


Chasing Pavements

by bayoublackjack



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-28
Updated: 2014-05-28
Packaged: 2018-01-26 20:36:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 22,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1701680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bayoublackjack/pseuds/bayoublackjack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Rory asked Amy to choose, he never thought she'd pick the Doctor, but she made her choice and so did he.  He left Leadworth and all thoughts of Amelia Pond behind for a new life in London.  Nevertheless, the closer he and his coworker, Dr. Martha Jones, get to one another, the more they realize that forgetting is easier said than done.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The thing about ultimatums is that they’re short-sighted.  When you make one, you live under the assumption that the other person will bend to your will.  The second option isn’t an option in your mind.  It’s a placeholder.  There are no maybes.  No 50/50 chances.  No failures. 

In actuality, you’re lucky if everything works in your favour.  Rory Williams now realised that he was not one of the lucky ones.

Amelia Pond was the only girl he ever loved.  He was sure of that fact from the time they were children.  Amy, however, didn’t even see him that way until they were older.  Her youth was spent in devotion to The Raggedy Doctor, her imaginary friend who, as it turned out, wasn’t so imaginary.

In retrospect, he realised that he never should have asked Amy to choose.  How was a lowly nurse ever going to compare with The Doctor?  Could the promise of forever compete with all of time and space?

Rory thought so at first.

In the two years following that first adventure with the Doctor battling the Atraxi, they lived a happy life.  He had asked her to marry him and she accepted.  Everything was as he had always hoped it would be.  But when The Doctor returned, their plans took a backseat to the madman in the blue box.

Rory understood the allure.  Each time she would come home with stories.  Stories of all the places she would go.  All the things she would see.  The people she would meet.  He could still remember the way her eyes sparkled when she described it to him, right down to the minute details.

She convinced to come along once.  He couldn’t even remember where they went anymore.  All he could remember was the look on Amy’s face when she looked at The Doctor.  Complete and unadulterated adoration.  She had never looked at him that way.  Not even once.

That was his first and only trip aboard the TARDIS.  He couldn’t bear to be the third wheel in his own relationship.  He let her continue though.  Amy had always been a free spirit and didn’t want to be the one to clip her wings.

‘She loves the Doctor, but she always comes home to me,’ he reminded himself.  ‘She agreed to marry  _me_ .’

It became his personal mantra.  In the days leading up to their wedding, he repeated it to himself more times than he cared to admit.  But the more he said it, the harder he found it was to believe it.

The final straw came the night of his stag party.

“You’re leaving with him tonight?” he asked.

“That’s the plan,” Amy mused as she stood in the garden waiting for the familiar blue box to make its appearance.  She was set to go off with the Doctor on another adventure.

“Tonight?”

“The Doctor is taking me to Paris,” she informed him as she searched the inky sky.  “There’s a Van Gogh exhibit on at the Musée d'Orsay.

“Less than 24 hours before our wedding and you’re going on a museum date with the Doctor?”

Amy glanced back at him.  “It’s not a date.”

Rory scoffed.  “Isn’t it?”

“No.”  Amy turned to face him.  “It’s an adventure.”

“An adventure that can wait until after the wedding.”

“He wants to take me tonight.”

“Well tell him no.”

She frowned.  “Why would I do that?  I want to go.”

Rory exhaled sharply.  “Heaven forbid you have a regular hen night like a normal bride.”  He threw his hands up in frustration.  “No,  _you_ have to go traipsing around all of time and space with another man the night before your wedding.”

Amy rolled her eyes.  “For God sake’s, Rory.  It’s just a wedding.  The TARDIS is a time machine.  I can make it back in time.”  She turned her back to him and resumed searching the night sky for the TARDIS.  “Besides, it’s not like they can start without me.”

Rory could hear her words, but in all honesty, he had stopped listening when she said it was ‘just a wedding.’ 

It was all a blur after that.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed between that point and the moment when the TARDIS appeared.  He barely even remembered giving her the ultimatum.

He would have sworn it was all a dream.  Or rather a nightmare.

The anger behind Amy’s eyes.  The heated row that ensued, while the Doctor bumbled alongside them, trying to interject but being shut down from both sides.  Amy storming off towards the TARDIS.  Rory hitting the pub with his mates and having far more to drink than he should have.

It would all look different in the morning.  He’d wake up from his nightmare and all would be as it should be.  But the pounding headache he woke up with was too painful to be imagined.

So their fight was real, but lots of couples fought the night before their wedding.  All they had to do was sleep it off.  Cooler heads with prevail.  Surely Amy would see it from his prospective.

He repeated his mantra to himself.

He took a shower and repeated his mantra.

He had a breakfast of beans on toast and repeated his mantra.

He drove to the church and repeated his mantra.

He stood at the altar and repeated his mantra.

He endured the sympathetic stares from the wedding guests and repeated his mantra.

For two more months, he repeated his mantra.

Even as he packed up his flat on his last day in Leadworth, he repeated his mantra.

‘That’s the last time,’ he chastised himself as he drove past the duck pond.  ‘I’m leaving it all behind.’  No more thoughts of Amy Pond.  No more thoughts of the Raggedy Doctor in the blue box.  No more thoughts of his life in Leadworth.

Once he reached London, he would be a new man.


	2. Chapter 2

Royal Hope was a far cry away from the Royal Leadworth Hospital.  The volume of patients alone was a huge difference, but even more than that, the level of care was far superior there in London.  Some of the best clinical results in the UK, according to the NHS.

Rory weighed his options when choosing which area of the hospital to work in.  He’d had taste of it all back when he was still in nursing school, but he didn’t really have a preference.  He briefly considered taking a position on the maternity unit until he came across a mouthy redheaded patient from Chiswick complaining of labour pains.  She was too reminiscent of another ginger that he refused to allow himself to think about for too long.

‘Accident and Emergency it is,’ he decided.

It was the obvious choice really, A&E.  It was exactly what he needed, a steady stream of nameless faces with interesting ailments.  Well not nameless.  Rory always remembered the names of his patients.

Hamish, the pensioner that slipped and fractured his hip.  Emma, the little girl that tried sticking a chess piece up her nose.  Richard, the schoolteacher that confused his acid reflux for a heart attack.

Tonight’s shift offered a new set of names and faces with crazy stories attached.  Stories, he sadly realised he wouldn’t be able to share with…

Never mind.

He shook those thoughts off and turned his attention to the slew of boisterous women seated on gurneys swearing and hurling objects at one another.

“Bit early for the PFOs isn’t it?” Nicola asked as she checked her watch.  She was one of the other nurses on his shift.  “Graham Norton isn’t even on for another two hours.”

“Hen night gone wrong,” Rory informed her as he tended to one of the quieter women.  She had a cut on her forehead to which he was carefully applying a plaster.  “Apparently the bride found out the groom was shagging the maid of honour.”

“Because she’s a great big slag!”  An ornery blond in a ‘bride’ t-shirt yelled as she proceeded to remove one of her high heels and hurl it at the cowering blonde sitting on the opposite side of the room.

“Don’t be mad if Charlie fancies me more than you, Gemma,” the maid of honour sat up straight.  Clearly she had found her courage after the threat of being thrashed by a shoe passed.  “We’ve known each other since we were kids.”

“Our wedding is tomorrow, Davinia!”  Gemma shrieked.

“I’m sorry Gemma, but the heart wants what it wants.”  The other blonde shrugged.  “Face it.  I’m Charlie’s destiny.”

Gemma flew from her seat towards the other woman, but without her other shoe quickly lost her balance.  Rory swooped in a caught her around the middle and stood her back up.

“Let me go!  Let me at her!”  Gemma flailed wildly as she kicked her other shoe at Davinia’s head.

Rory wanted to let her go.  He really wanted to.  If he couldn’t have justice for himself, at least Gemma should have hers.  But professionalism took precedence over retaliation and he simply hoisted Gemma back onto her gurney so that someone could tend to her cuts and bruises.

“Someone escort this patient off the ward please?” a female doctor requested as she entered the scene.  “I think she’s ready for discharge.”

Nicola nodded as she led a limping Davinia far away from Gemma.

“I’m gonna kill her when I get out of here,” Gemma seethed.

“You could,” the doctor retorted as she swabbed Gemma’s cheek with surgical spirit.  “Or you could, I dunno, thank her.”

Gemma scoffed.  “What are you on about?”

“Well, the way I see it,” the doctor smiled.  “You can sit here wasting your time crying over a bloke who clearly isn’t worth your time.”  She explained as she covered Gemma’s abrasions with gauze.  “Or you can be happy you got out now.”  She smirked.  “I mean sure you’ve probably already dropped a couple thousand pounds on a wedding that’ll never happen, but it’s lot cheaper than a divorce,” she reasoned.

“But everyone is already coming,” Gemma whimpered.  “My great aunt came all the way from Aberdeen.”

“Right.”  The doctor nodded.  “So let them come!” she insisted.  “Cancel the church, but keep the hall.  Then when the time comes, put on your sexiest dress and your highest heels and dance the night away.  Because you, Gemma Smith, just saved yourself from making the biggest mistake of your life.”

Gemma seemed to be gobsmacked by the doctor’s perspective on the situation because she just stared at the other woman in silence.  Rory quietly scanned the area for potential weapons in case Gemma decided to resort to throwing things again.

Alas, it wouldn’t be necessary.

Gemma scoffed.  “Charlie always has been a twat.”  She shook her head.  “You know, he only proposed when he thought he got me pregnant.”

“Sounds like you’re getting off easy.”

“Well he’s Davinia’s problem now,” Gemma agreed.

The doctor glanced over her shoulder as Nicola returned.  “Nurse Clarke, can you help Ms Smith with her discharge forms?”

“Sure thing, Doctor Jones.”

Rory watched in awe as the petit doctor walked away after effortlessly diffusing the situation.  He jogged to catch up with her.  “That.  Was.  Brilliant,” he praised.

“What  _that_ ?”  She laughed.  “That’s just a typical Saturday night.”

“Not in Leadworth.”

“Right.”  She glanced at him as they walked.  “You’re the new nurse.”

“Rory Williams.”  He offered her his hand and she took it with a smile.

“Martha Jones.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Nicola’s great,” Martha told Rory over coffee in the lounge.  “Just don’t let her drink too much if you’re ever out with her.”  She laughed softly.  “She can get a bit handsy.”

“Noted.”  Rory nodded.

“And over there is Oliver Morgenstern.”  Martha gestured to the doctor near the door.  “A bit full of himself at times, but overall harmless.  He’s a good bloke.”

Rory chuckled.  “Everyone’s great according to you.”

“What can I say?  I’m a people person.”  Martha shrugged.  “The job kinda calls for it, yeah?”

“Maybe  _my_ job,” Rory replied into his coffee.  “Nurses have to be people pleasers.  And a lot of doctors aren’t exactly known for their bedside manner.”

“True,” Martha smirked.  “But I don’t want to be one of those hard arse doctors.”  She shook her head.  “I had a supervisor like that once, Doctor Stoker.”  Her smile faltered.  “He was brilliant, but he made a few nurses cry in his day.”

“He’s not around here now is he?”  Rory glanced around.  “I’m a bit cried out these days.”

“No.”  Martha shook her head.  “He died.”

“Oh.”  Rory laughed nervously.  “Really stepped into that one, Williams.”

“It’s an honest mistake,” Martha insisted.  “In our line of work you get used to it.”  She paused.  “We’re all just fighting against time really.”

“Yea.”  Rory nodded solemnly.  “Time is definitely not my friend.”

“I didn’t bum you out did I?”  Martha asked. 

“You?”  Rory scoffed.  “Don’t think that’s possible.  You’re all…sunshine and kittens.”

“Well my sister Tish reckons I’ve been properly miserable since…”  She paused.

“Since…?”

Martha hesitated.  “Since my divorce.”

“Oh.”

“Yea.”  Martha shook her head.  “We barely made six months before it was over.”

“Maybe you should have taken your own advice,” Rory suggested cautiously.  “Gotten out before it was too late.”

“I suppose I did in a way.”  Martha shrugged and rolled her coffee cup between her palms.  “I mean at least we called it quits before there were kids.”  She exhaled sharply.  “But Mickey was never the problem.”  She paused.  “Or Tom, for that matter.”

Rory stopped mid sip.  “Another ex-husband?”

“No,” Martha cringed.  “Tom was my fiancé before I married Mickey.”  She sighed.  “It was all my fault really.  There was this bloke.  Doctor.  He was…”  She smiled wistfully.  “One of a kind.  I mean the time we spent together.”  She chuckled softly.  “I couldn’t help but fall for him.”  She shrugged.  “And…”  She drummed her fingers on the sides of her coffee cup.  “He never looked at me twice.” 

“Suddenly my love life doesn’t sound so dire anymore,” Rory retorted with false optimism.

“Why?”  Martha lifted her coffee to her lips.  “Did you wreck two relationships over a silly crush?”

“No,” Rory replied stoically.  “I’m the one that was wrecked.”

“Right,” Martha winced.  “I’m guessing that’s the reason why you left Leadworth.”

Rory nodded.  “Everything about that place reminded of Amy and the Doctor.”

Martha winced again. “Oh.  He was a doctor too?”

“Not just a doctor.   _The_ Doctor,” Rory replied mockingly.  “He’s probably not even a proper one.”

“I’m guessing that throwing on your sexiest dress and highest heels won’t make you feel any better at this point,” Martha joked to diffuse the tension.

Rory was grateful for the change in subject.  “You’ve clearly never seen me dance before.”

Martha grinned.  “You’re not a lip biter, are you?”  She bit her bottom lip and mimicked bad dance moves from her seat.

“Okay, well, maybe you  _have_ seen me dance.”

“Seriously?”  Martha laughed.  “Well that’s just tragic.”

“Rory Williams, compulsively tragic.  Nice to meet you.”  He extended his hand to her.

“Martha Jones, romantically challenged.”  She gave his hand a firm shake.  “Likewise.”  They both burst into laughter as soon as they released each other’s hands.

For the first time in months, Rory felt genuinely happy.  He lifted his cup.  “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

“I think so, Rick,” Martha joked with a nod.  “I think so.”


	4. Chapter 4

The next four months were easier. Rory found that he didn’t think of Amy as much as he did before. She still popped into his head occasionally when he came across redheads or women named Amy or someone with her accent. It was fleeting though. He finally realised that he was actually capable of living his life without Amy and more importantly, he had let go of his anger.

He had Martha to thank for that.

“Don’t be like me,” Martha warned him over a cuppa during another one of their late night shifts in A&E. “It took me far too long to realise that hanging onto ghosts of the past will only haunt your future.”

“Are you going to wax philosophical on me now?” he joked.

“No.” Martha smiled. “I’m just saying that you’re a good bloke and it would be a shame if you miss out on happiness because no one ever measures up to Amy.”

“Well in my defence, she is really tall.”

Martha ignored his cheekiness and continued what she was saying. “I’m not telling you to run out and get married or anything,” she insisted. “Just be social.”

“That’s probably for the best.” Rory nodded. “I hear those rebound marriages are brutal,” he retorted with a smirk.

“Oi!” Martha socked him so hard in the arm that he nearly dropped his tea. “Don’t go taking the piss when I’m trying to give you sound advice.”

“This from a romantically challenged doctor?” he scoffed playfully.

She met his scoff with one of her own. “Said the compulsively tragic nurse.”

Rory feigned offence. “Are you pulling rank on me, Doctor Jones?”

Martha laughed. “Oh you bet your arse I am, Nurse Williams.”

They joked about it, but Rory did take Martha’s advice. He didn’t go on any dates, but he did start going out more. Football with the lads from Haematology. Pub crawls with the other nurses on their nights off.

He learned first-hand how accurate Martha’s assertion was about Nicola’s alcohol tolerance. He quickly shut her down, but he momentarily admitted to himself that it was nice to have a woman expect more from him than the understanding smiles and gentle words that his patients sought.

He had finally regained his stride when it came to social interactions. He wasn’t the dull nurse from Leadworth anymore. He was Rory, the fun bloke down in A&E that people actually wanted to hang out with. Though, he admittedly spent most of his time with Martha.

As it turned out, they had a lot in common. Whenever the inflow of patients waned, they met up for a cuppa in the lounge and chatted about everything from football to Faust. After a while, they took their friendship outside of the hospital. A pint here. A dinner there. Occasionally a film when their schedules matched up.

Before he knew it, it was Christmastime and she had convinced him to come to the office party at everyone’s favourite pub.

“What is that God awful thing you’re wearing?” Martha asked with a scrunched nose when he joined her next to the bar.

“What?” Rory glanced down at his reindeer jumper that an elderly patient back in Leadworth knitted for him. “It’s festive!”

“It’s hideous!” Martha insisted with a laugh.

“We can’t all clean up as well as you,” Rory commented as he gave her a good gander. She wore a sexy red dress and very high heels. Given the winter weather, she probably shouldn’t have had so much skin exposed, but Rory was pretty grateful that she did.

“You’re behind,” Martha informed him as they had a drink at the bar. “Nicola’s already had eggnog, two rum and cokes and a round of shots.” She sipped her own drink. “You’re not going to be able to hide from her in that tragic jumper.”

“Maybe I’ll let her have her fun.”

Martha laughed. “Really?”

Rory shrugged. “In the spirit of Christmas.”

As if on cue, Nicola stumbled over to them. “Happy Christmas!” she cheered as she produced a sprig of mistletoe from behind her back. “Get o’er here, Rory,” she demanded before pulling him into a kiss.

Rory was hardly stunned by Nicola’s actions. Though he wasn’t expecting her to snog Martha as well. Martha indulged her politely, probably because she hoped Nicola would move on to her next set of victims.

“Now you.” Nicola nudged Rory.

“Again?” He was still wiping the traces of her lip gloss away.

“Not me,” Nicola giggled drunkenly. “Martha.” She held the mistletoe up between them. Rory hesitated, but Martha gave him a look that clearly said, ‘she won’t stop until we indulge her.’

“Well then.” Rory exhaled and finished off his drink. “Doctor Jones.”

Martha laughed at his formality. “Nurse Williams.”

“Enough with the ceremony,” Nicola thwacked him on the back. “Just snog her already!”

So he did.

Rory had no expectations. Just a harmless kiss under the mistletoe between friends. One that lasted longer than the three seconds he shared with Nicola. One that was only interrupted when the DJ decided to momentarily switch from Christmas music to play a party classic.

“Oh my God!” Nicola shrieked gleefully. “I love the Macarena!”

Rory pulled away from Martha and jumped off his stool. “I have to go.”


	5. Chapter 5

Rory rubbed the back of his neck absentmindedly.  His skin felt hot.  Once he stepped outside, he welcomed the icy night air with open arms.  He was barely out the door when he heard a pair of heels clicking the pavement behind him.

 “You know some people consider it poor form to bugger off right after kissing a girl,” Martha called out to him.

 Rory exhaled softly as he stopped walking.  “Sorry.”

“And some people consider it poor form to apologise right after kissing a girl,” Martha replied neutrally as she caught up to him.  She took the time to pull her coat on once they were face to face.  “You alright?” she asked softly.

“No.”

Martha paused and an awkward silence hung between them.  “Was it the kiss?” she asked eventually.

“No.”  Rory exhaled sharply and looked skyward for strength.  “It was that blooming song!”

Martha fought back a smile.  “What?  Did you have a tragic Macarena injury once upon a time or something?”

Rory met her eyes.  “It was playing the first time Amy and I kissed.”

“Right,” she responded awkwardly.

“I was kissing you then suddenly there was that song and…there she was again.  I just didn’t know how to handle it.”  He ran a hand through his hair roughly.  “It’s stupid.  I know.”

“It’s understandable.”  She touched his arm gently.  “A love like that doesn’t fade overnight.”  Rory had explained his history with Amy to Martha save for a few details involving the Doctor.  Even though London had a history of alien invasions, he wasn’t looking to get sectioned in the name of full disclosure.  “Don’t beat yourself up.”  She rubbed his arm.  “It was just an innocent kiss under the mistletoe between mates.”

“It wasn’t,” Rory insisted as he shook his head.  “It wasn’t innocent.”

Martha frowned.  “I never meant to make things worse for you, Rory.  I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“I’m not uncomfortable with you, Martha.  That’s the thing,” Rory informed her.  “I mean the timing could have been a lot better, but don’t regret it.  I  _wanted_ to kiss you.”

“Right…”  Martha nodded slowly.  “Not the response I was expecting.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Yea.”

“Right.”

“So…”

“Yea?”

“When the conversation turns monosyllabic it’s best to start walking again, yea?”  Martha suggested.

“Okay,” Rory agreed as they began to walk again.  “Shall we go back to mine?”

“One little kiss and you’re already trying to get me back to yours?”

“What?”  Rory stammered.  “No.  I wasn’t—” He paused.  “Would that  _actually_ work?”

Martha laughed.  “Well the thought of seeing you sans jumper is rather appealing at the moment.”

“Now you’re trying to get  _my_ kit off.”

Martha stuffed her hands into her pockets and looked ahead with a smile.  “You wish.”

“I  _do_ actually.”

“I’ll take the sexual innuendos as a sign of the changing dynamics in our friendship.”  Martha glanced at him.  “So what happens now?”

“Great question.”  Rory met her eyes.  “No clue.”

“I’m not really sure how this works either.”

Rory shrugged.  “I loved the same girl my whole life.”

“Rule number one, don’t bring the ex into conversations about the current,” Martha joked bitterly.  “Kinda puts girls off.”

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s not you.  It’s just…residual anger.”  Martha shrugged it off.

“Right so…”  Rory glanced at her again.  “What does this makes us exactly?”

Martha stopped walking and turned to him suddenly.  “Do you love me?”

“What?”  Rory froze and began stammering again.  “Well…I mean…”

“No.”  Martha started walking again.  “I don’t love you either.”

“Okay…”  Rory fell in stride with her again.

“I think it’s best if we avoid labels, yea?”

“Yea.”  Rory could agree to that much.  “So everything is basically the same?”

“More or less.”

“More or less?”  Rory repeated.

Martha shrugged.  “More snogging, less clothing.”

Rory exhaled deeply.  “O…K.”

“Back to yours, yea?”

“Really?”

Martha laughed.

Rory groaned softly.  “Okay.  See now joking about that is just…cruel.”

“If you’re that hot and bothered, I’m sure Nicola would give you a go.”

“Good point.”  Rory turned and started walking back towards the pub.

“Oi!”

He turned to face her with a smirk on his face.

“Keep that up and it’ll take a bloody Christmas miracle to get into my pants.”  She threatened with a wag of her finger and a smile.

“We work in a hospital, Martha.”  Rory reminded her.  “We see miracles happening every day.”


	6. Chapter 6

Christmas came and went with no miracles for Rory’s sex life.  There was however a slow but steady progression with Martha.  She stayed true to her promise of more snogging, but he tried to refrain from mentioning the bit about less clothing.

Not that he didn’t think about it.  He most certainly did.  Her red dress from the Christmas party was a recurring element in his dreams well into the new year.

He did notice, however, that she had begun to wear more low-cut tops under her lab coat.  Nothing too revealing, but enough to keep things interesting.  Given the difference in their heights, it was certainly more interesting from Rory’s point of view.

“Have you been playing doctor with Doctor Jones?”  Nicola cornered him in the lounge one night.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he responded casually.  They had agreed to downplay their relationship at work.  It had only been two months since their first kiss and they were still figuring things out.  No need to add the pressure of being at the centre of office gossip.

Nicola rolled her eyes, but she played along.  “I saw you eyeing her tits,” she informed him.  “Twice.”

Rory lifted his tea to his lips but didn’t drink.  “Well they’re very nice…”  He paused.  “Breasts.”

“You’re so blatant.”  Nicola laughed.  “But lucky for you everyone else around here is too busy doing their actual jobs to pick up on it.”

Rory glanced around quickly before leaning in closer to Nicola.  “Okay, you caught me, but we’re trying to keep it quiet,” he spoke softly.  “We’re still figuring things out.”

“Since when?”

“The Christmas party.”

“Right, your big kiss and run scene.”  Nicola smirked and Rory tried to hide his shock at the fact that she remembered anything from that night after all the alcohol she consumed.  “Well seeing as I had a hand at pairing you off, it’s only right you consider naming the first one after me.  Nicola Williams.  Nicholas.  I could even tolerate a Nicole.”

“Still.  Figuring.  Things.  Out,” Rory reminded her.

“Have you?”

“No.”

“Really?”  Nicola frowned.  “I woulda given you a go on the first night if I was her.”  She shrugged.  “Horses for courses I suppose.”  She took a sip of her tea.  “Are you doing anything special tomorrow?”

Rory had completely forgotten about Valentine’s Day.  “We haven’t made any plans.”

“Make some then,” Nicola suggested as she stood up to get back to work.  “That sort of stuff can make or break a relationship.”

Rory nursed a lukewarm cup of tea as he mulled over the Valentine’s Day situation.  He didn’t notice Martha until she sat across from him.

“Alright?”  She slid a fresh cup towards him.

“Yea,” Rory accepted the tea with a smile.

“You look deep in thought.”

“I was just thinking about something Nicola said.”

“Yea?”

“Tomorrow…”  Rory paused to collect his thoughts.

“Tomorrow,” Martha mimicked.

“It’s Valentine’s Day.”

“I’m aware.”  Martha smiled.  “I do own a calendar.”

“We should do something,” he replied more as a statement than a suggestion.

Martha tilted her head to the side.  He noticed, in the past few months, that she had developed a habit of doing that when she was preparing to wind him up.  “Such as?”

Rory wasn’t going to dare say the first thing that popped into his head.  Nor the second or third.  “Dinner?”

Martha stared at him for a second and smiled.  “Was that your first thought?”

“No,” he answered into his tea.

“Afraid of being turned down?”

Rory scoffed playfully.  “Obviously.”

“We could you know,” Martha replied casually.  “It’s always like that in films, yea?”  She took a sip of her tea.  “We’re not American teenagers.  So prom isn’t an option and that just leaves us with Valentine’s Day.”

“Or birthdays.”

“Right.”  Martha nodded.  “There are songs about birthday sex and everything.”  They both laughed softly.

“So tomorrow…”  Rory broached the subject carefully after a few moments of silence.  He didn’t want to come off as being too anxious.

Martha reached across the table and touched his hand.  “No pressure.  We’ll see what happens, yea?”

Rory laced his fingers with hers.  “Yea.”


	7. Chapter 7

Rory and Martha agreed to keep things simple for Valentine’s Day.  No fuss.  No frills.  Just dinner and a movie at his place.

“Where did you learn to cook curry like that?” Martha marvelled from the sofa as Rory did the washing up.

“Sean Choudhury,” Rory explained as he dried his hands on a tea towel and slung it over his shoulder.  “He was the only other bloke in my nursing class.”  He picked up the bottle of red wine they had with dinner and refilled both their glasses.  “Those study sessions could be long and brutal so he cooked for us sometimes.”

“Don’t remind me about study sessions.”  Martha shuddered as she thought about her own medical training.  “My physiology professor was a terror.”

“I always preferred anatomy,” Rory replied as he lifted his wine to his lips.  “Of course it helps when you have a living study aid.”  His head was momentarily filled with thoughts of using Amy’s body to study muscle groups.

“That’s the only way to maintain a healthy relationship in medical school,” Martha joked.

“Is that how you met your Doctor?” Rory asked.

“Yes and no.”  Martha replied as she took a sip of her own wine.  “I was still in school back then, but he was patient when I met him.”

Rory groaned.  “Doctors make rubbish patients.”

“Don’t I know it.”  Martha laughed softly.

“What about Tom?”  Rory asked.  He realised that he had spent so much time talking about Amy, but he never really asked Martha about her own love life.

“Our meeting was…complicated,” Martha offered simply.  “I met him once and he was really sweet to me.  He saved my life in a way.”  She paused.  “Then I met him again, but he didn’t remember me.”

He sat next to her.  “Does he save that many lives that he couldn’t remember you?”

“Well he is a doctor,” she informed him.  “Last time we talked, he was still working as a paediatrician in Africa.”

“Right…”  Rory frowned slightly.  “As if I didn’t have  _enough_ of doctor complex.”  He sighed dramatically.  “What is it with women and doctors?”  He looked at her.  “Don’t tell me the one you married was a doctor too.”

“Mickey?  No, he was a mechanic.  Well, former mechanic.”

“That’s a big change.”

“Tell me about it.”  Martha shook her head.  “My mum was furious.”  She laughed softly.  “I went from the future Mrs Milligan to a mechanic’s wife.”

“How does that work?”

“Well…”  Martha shifted her position on the sofa so that they faced each other.  “Tom was in Africa, being the amazing man that is.  But while he was gone,” she hesitated.  “Some things happened and he wasn’t around, but my first Doctor was.”  She smiled slightly.  “Then I kinda realised that the things I loved about Tom were the same things that I loved about the Doctor.  And I also realised that I was doing the same thing to Tom that I felt like was done to me, trying to make him fill the place of someone else.”  She added sadly.  “So I let him go.”

“Where does Mickey fit into that?”

“Crazy story, but the other girl that the Doctor loved, Rose, well Mickey was her boyfriend once upon a time.  She left him to be with my—well  _our_ Doctor.”  She paused.  “Mickey and I met at a really intense time.  The two of us were thrown together with the Doctor and Rose.”  She shrugged.  “I guess in a way we were a pair of spares,” she joked.  “Maybe that’s what drew us together.”

“So what happened?”  Rory asked cautiously.

Martha exhaled.  “I had taken a sabbatical from the hospital and was working with this…agency.  It was a military sort of a thing.  The Doctor personally recommended me for it.  He worked with them for years.”  She smiled.  “Any road, I have a friend, Jack, that ran this similar agency based out of Cardiff,” she continued.  “He wanted to recruit Mickey and me to work with him.  I had done some consulting for him in the past and Mickey had taken a job working at different branch under Rose’s father.”  She inhaled deeply.  “It was tempting, but at that point I just wanted to get back to the hospital.  Back to humanity.  But Mickey convinced me to work freelance with him.  It was fine at first.  Exhilarating as ever.”

Martha sighed heavily and Rory instinctively laid his hand on her knee.  She placed her own hand on top of his and smiled slightly.  “Then there was this one mission…”  Her smile faltered.  “Mickey and I nearly died, but like always the Doctor swooped in and saved the day.  But this time was different.”  She fought to keep her emotions in check.  “The Doctor was…dying.”

“So he’s…?”

“No.”  Martha shook her head.  “He didn’t die he just…he  _changed_ .  He became a completely different man.  In my heart, though, it felt like he did die.  The man I knew…the man I loved…he was gone forever.”

There was sadness in her eyes that made Rory want to take her into his arms and protect her from harm.

“I realised then that Mickey and I could never make it work.”  Martha shook her head.  “My feelings for him were nothing compared to how I felt about the Doctor.”

Something about the way she talked about her Doctor reminded him of Amy and that triggered an all too familiar feeling of bitter self-consciousness.  “And what about me?”

“You’re different from Tom and Mickey,” Martha insisted.

Rory scoffed.  “How?”

“Because you’re a kindred spirit.”  She took his hands into her.  “I can’t stop loving my Doctor any more than you can stop loving Amy.”

Her words struck Rory.  As much as he hated to admit it, part of him knew he’d never get over Amy.  “I can’t get her out of my head,” he confessed.  “But I when I’m with you…it’s like the pain goes away.”  He sighed softly.  “How do we make this work when we’re both in love with other people?”

“We heal each other.”

“With sexual healing?” he joked to ease the tension.

Martha smirked.  “Did you just use Marvin Gaye on me?”

Rory laughed.  “That depends.  Is it working?”

Martha stood up and pulled him towards the bedroom.  “Let’s see.”


	8. Chapter 8

Rory knew Martha was beautiful.  That was never a question.  But seeing her exposed took his admiration for her to another level.

They examined each other’s bodies intently like two students prepping for an anatomy practicum.  Rory took note of every square inch of her.  Every curve.  Every mole.

He traced the lines of her body slowly, alternating between kisses and caresses.  Every now and then he’d test the waters with his tongue.  He had so many questions that demanded answers.  How did she like to be touched?  Where and for how long?  What made her moan?  What was she like when she reached her peak?  He wanted to know everything about her.

Martha, in turn, had figured out that Rory was quite ticklish along his collar bone.  He tried to stifle a laugh when her lips brush up against his clavicle.  “Sorry.”

Martha hovered over him.  Her hair draped around her face like a dark veil.  “You always say sorry at the worst times.”  She smiled.

“I don’t know what to say then,” Rory confessed as he ran his hands over her bare hips and up her back.  “I sorta feel like I should be apologising for apologising.”

Martha scoffed softly and kissed his nose.  “You have a naked woman straddling your lap, surely you can think of something better to do than apologise for being ticklish.”

“Naturally.”  His hands travelled up her sides towards her breasts, but he stopped short of touching them.  “But I need to say something first.”

Martha looked slightly disappointed at his hesitation to keep going, but to her credit, she listened calmly.  “What is it?”

Rory sat up so that they were eye to eye.  He placed his hands on her hips and held her close to him.  “We both may love other people, but you’re not some consolation prize to me,” he informed her.  “I’m serious about this, Martha.  I’m serious about you.  I could fall so hard for you, if you let me.”

Martha cupped his face gently.  “We said ‘no pressure,’” she reminded him.

Rory realised that ‘no pressure’ had become their mantra.  One that they never really needed to begin with.  “There  _is_ no pressure,” Rory insisted.  “There’s never been pressure.  Being with you has always been easy.  Loving you…is easy.”

Martha stroked his cheek with her thumb.  “Are you saying you love me?”

“I am.”  Rory exhaled and nodded confidently.  He wrapped his arm around Martha’s waist and changed their position so that he was on top of her.  “Martha Jones, I am inexplicably in love with you.”

Martha pulled his face closer to hers.  “I love you too,” she confessed before kissing his lips.

The kisses they shared had always been passionate, but this one was different.  All the other times they had been holding back, or rather, they had been holding on.  They held onto the past.  Onto Amy and Martha’s Doctor, but now they finally let go.  Now, it was just the two of them.

 

**~*~**

 

“Do I have to get up?”  Martha asked lazily from her spot in Rory’s bed.  Their bodies were still tangled and bare from a night of lovemaking.

Rory rolled over and kissed her shoulder.  “You’ve been asking me that question for the last two months,” he reminded her.  “Every day since you first slept over.  Do you even remember what your own flat looks like?”

“I keep falling asleep in your arms then I don’t want to get up and go home in the morning.”

“So don’t,” Rory insisted as his lips found their way to her neck.

“I have to go home.  I work tonight and I don’t have any clean clothes.”

“I meant you should just move in here,” Rory clarified.

Martha rolled onto her back and looked him in the eyes.  “Seriously?”

“We’ve been together for four months if we count from Christmas,” he pointed out.  “We’re always together anyway and everyone at the hospital knows.  What’s stopping us?”

“For starters?  You have to meet my mum first.”

“Is that all?”  Rory smirked.  “I’m great with mums!”

Martha scoffed softly.  “You haven’t met Francine Jones yet.”

 

**~*~**

 

Martha stood next to Rory’s sofa with a look of shock on her face.  Her mother’s actions had literally stunned her into silence.

“Honestly!”  Francine shook her head at her daughter.  “I can’t believe you’ve kept this one hidden for so long.”  She and Rory sat close together on the sofa.  “He’s such a delight.”  She beamed.

Martha nodded unconsciously.  “He’s something alright.”

Francine glanced at her watch.  “It’s just a shame that I have to go.”  She stood up.  “But you have to bring Rory over for Sunday lunch,” she told her daughter as she headed for the door.  “Introduce him to Tish and Leo.”

“And dad.”  Martha added.

“Yes, well.”  Francine rolled her eyes at the mention of Clive Jones.  “I hope to see you again soon, Rory.”  She pulled him into a friendly hug.

“As do I, Mrs Jones.”

“I told you, call me Francine.”

Rory nodded.  “Francine.”

Francine leaned in close to Martha as she started out the door.  “You picked a keeper this time,” she told her seriously.  “Don’t cock it up.”

Martha closed the door once her mother left and leaned against it.  “I can’t believe this.”

“Yea,” Rory nodded as he began to clean up the remnants left behind from tea.  “Mums should never say the word ‘cock.’”  He cringed slightly as he deposited the dishes in the kitchen.  “It just feels wrong.”

“My mum loves you,” Martha marvelled.

“I told you I was good with mums.”

“Yea, but  _my_ mum loves you.”

“Is that so hard to believe?”  Rory asked as he walked over to her.

“She’s hated every single bloke I’ve ever brought home at some point.”

“All of them?”

“She slapped the Doctor.  She liked Tom until he proposed without asking permission first and Mickey…”  She exhaled.  “He probably got the worst of it.”

“But they’re not around,” Rory reminded her.  “I think something can be said about maternal instinct.”  He wrapped his arms around her.

“If my mum loves you, maybe the universe is telling me something.”  Martha joked as she eased into his into his embrace.

“Or maybe the world is gonna end.”

“Nah,” Martha shook her head.  “This isn’t how the world ends.”

“So are we really going to do this?” He asked anxiously.

Martha nodded.  “Let’s move in together.”


	9. Chapter 9

The news about Rory and Martha had spread quickly around the hospital over the following fortnight, but that wasn’t the only thing going around.

Martha hunched over the toilet as she felt another wave of nausea hit her.

Nicola cringed outside of the stall.  “I told you to go home.”

“Half of A & E has the flu,” Martha reminded her as she emerged from the stall.  “We need the extra hands.  We’re understaffed.”  She turned the tap on and collected a pool of water in her palm, which she swished around in her mouth to wash the sick away.

“Yea, we’re understaffed, but we don’t need you spreading your lurgies.”

Martha rolled her eyes as she washed her hands.  “I’m sick.  I’m at the hospital.  It all makes perfect sense to me,” she retorted as they exited the loo.

Rory stood outside the loo with his arm crossed.  “You really should go home.”

“I told her that,” Nicola informed him.  “But all I got in return was a load of cheek.”

Martha sighed softly as they double teamed her.  “Look, my shift ends in a few hours.  I promise to go straight to bed then.  But for now, I have patients to see.”

Rory exhaled sharply.  They both knew it was pointless to argue because Martha was going to do what she wanted to do regardless of what he said.

“One of the patients is begging to see a doctor,” he informed Martha as they began walking towards the patient’s area.  “Her vitals are within normal limits, but just barely and she keeps slipping in and out of consciousness.  She didn’t come in with any identification,” he added as they came to the patient’s bed.

“Doctor…”  The blond haired woman moaned softly.  “I need the Doctor.”

“I’m here,” Martha replied softly as she took the woman’s hand in her own.  “Can you tell me you name?”

“Doctor…”  The blonde’s eyes fluttered a few times before she focused weakly on Martha.

“I’m the doctor,” Martha assured her.

“No…”  The woman looked at her strangely.  “You’re Martha Jones.”

Martha stared at the woman for a second before she glanced around.  Rory and Nicola had gone off to tend to other patients, so she was all alone with their Jane Doe.  “Yea, I’m Dr Martha Jones,” she responded uneasily.  “Have we met?”

“No,” the women replied weakly, “but I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“About me?”

The woman nodded slowly.  “My Doctor always has nice things to say about you.”

“I’d call your regular doctor, but we don’t have any physicians on record for you,” Martha informed her.  “In fact, we don’t have any information on you at all.”  She slipped her stethoscope into place and checked the woman’s heartbeat as they talked.  “Do you know how you ended up here?”

The woman exhaled slowly.  “I was looking for my father.  I heard he was at a hospital in London.”

“Is he a patient?”

“He’s under the care of a wonderful doctor.”

“Do you know the name of his doctor?  Maybe we can reconnect you.”

“Dr Martha Jones,” the woman answered.  “You fixed my father…but I don’t think you’ll be able to save me.  It’s probably too late already.  Too much time has passed.  Too much has changed.”

“I don’t accept that.”  Martha shook her head.  “I  _won’t_ accept that.”  She took the woman’s hand and squeezed it.  “I promise to do  _everything_ in my power to help you.”

“Oh you  _are_ brilliant.”  The woman smiled.  “He was right about you.”

“Who?”

“My Doctor.”

“If you just tell me his name, I can call him in for you,” Martha insisted firmly.

“He’ll be here soon,” she told Martha.  “He’s coming.  He always comes when I call him.”  She let out a laboured breath.  “But’s not coming for a happy reason.”

“What do you mean?”  Martha squeezed her hand tighter.  “You don’t mean…”

“Not my death,” the woman chuckled softly.  “Though, at this rate, I might die soon.”

“Then whose death is he coming for?”  Martha asked hesitantly.

The woman smiled again.  “Spoilers.”

“Martha,” Nicola called out to her from the doorway.

“Yea?”  Martha glanced over her shoulder at the nurse.

“There’s a…um…situation…in the lounge,” Nicola answered nervously.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Martha told the woman and followed Nicola to the lounge.  “What’s so important that you needed to pull me away from a patient?” she demanded as they arrived at the lounge.

Martha found Rory standing there looking uneasily, but it wasn’t him that caught her attention.  “Mickey?”

Mickey turned at the sound of Martha’s voice.  His eyes were bloodshot as if he had been crying.  “Martha,” he croaked softly.  He walked over to her like a man in a trace and threw his arms around her.

Martha stole a glance at Rory as she hugged her ex-husband.  “What’s going on, Mickey?”  She pulled away from him gently.  “Why are you here?”

“It’s Sarah Jane.”  Mickey sniffed hard.  “She’s dead.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Sarah Jane Smith,” Jo Jones began as she looked out over the congregation.  “…was quite possibly the most wonderful woman I’ve ever met in my entire life.  And I think the same could be said for many of you given the number of people here today.”

Rory glanced around the church at the all the people who had gathered for the funeral.  It was literally standing room only.  Martha had pointed a few of them out to him as they took their seats.  Mike Yates.  Victoria Waterfield.  A group of teenagers than included Sarah Jane’s children, Luke and Sky, their friends Clyde, Maria and Rani and Jo’s grandson, Santiago.

“Sarah Jane was a recent acquaintance of mine, but you only had to be around her for a second to be touched by the beauty of her soul.”  She smiled tearfully.  “She loved people and more than anything she hated to see others suffering.  That’s why she dedicated her life to fighting injustices and protecting people everywhere.”

After Jo finished speaking, Mickey stood up to say his piece.  “I remember the first time I met Sarah Jane.”  He smiled wistfully.  “I was screaming my head off like a little girl because I came across rats in the dark.”  He laughed softly.  “But not Sarah Jane.  She was brilliant and brave and she had a smile brighter than the sun.”  He exhaled slowly.

“After my divorce, Sarah Jane was one of the few people I could turn to.”  He glanced at Martha briefly and she instinctively squeezed Rory’s hand.  “She once told me that we Smiths had to stick together.  So I stuck by her side when she needed it the most.”  He paused to compose himself.  “She kept a smile on her face the whole time.  Partially because she didn’t want anyone to worry about her,” he glanced at Luke and Sky.  “But then she told me that after all the things she had seen, cancer didn’t scare her in the slightest.  She said ‘I have to respect the time I was given and live my life to the fullest.  That’s the one thing he teaches all of us.’”  He paused.  “‘Time...is precious.’”

Rory comforted Martha as the mourners followed the coffin to the graveyard.  She leaned her head against his shoulder as they stood under a tree a few metres away from Sarah Jane’s final resting place.  “I can’t believe she’s gone.”

Mickey shook his head.  “Neither can I.”  Silence fell between them as the mourners began to disperse.  The three of them walked towards the church quietly.

Rory wanted to do more for Martha, but he was hesitant due to Mickey’s presence.  To Mickey’s credit, he didn’t seem bitter or uncomfortable to be around Martha and Rory.  He even went as far as to congratulate them and jokingly threatened to hunt Rory down if he broke her heart.  At least, Rory was hoping that he was joking.

Rory was about to say something when another man joined them.  He was dressed in a long coat and spoke with an American accent.  “Dr Jones.”  He looked at Mickey.  “Mickey Mouse.”

“Captain Cheesecake,” Mickey retorted.  They both broke into smiles and hugged each other tightly.

Jack released Mickey and pulled Martha into a hug.  “This is our friend, Jack.”  Martha introduced him once he released her.  “Jack, this is my boyfriend, Rory.”

“Captain Jack Harkness.”  He held his hand out to Rory.

“Nurse Rory Williams,” he replied automatically as they shook hands.

Jack beamed.  “I like this one.”  He pointed to Rory.  “He’s funny.  And cute.”  He looked Rory up and down.  “I’ve never dated a nurse before.  Fancied a doctor or two in my day, though.”

“Haven’t we all?” Mickey quipped with an eye roll.

“Have either of you seen him?”  Jack asked after a few tense moments.  Both Mickey and Martha shook their heads solemnly.  “I would have thought at least one of them might have shown up.”  He looked around.  “Are you sure?” he asked again.  “I mean maybe it was the one with the cape or the one with the scarf.  Those two knew Sarah Jane the best, right?”

“Photos of the first nine were in his UNIT file.”  Martha shook her head.  “I haven’t seen any of them.”  She frowned.  “Not even our version.”

“Have either of you considered that maybe he’s not coming?” Mickey asked bitterly.  “I mean he leaves us behind.  He always has and he always will,” he reminded them.  “He left Sarah Jane in Aberdeen.  He left Jack on Satellite 5.  Then there was Rose.  And Donna.  And you, Martha…”

“ _I_ left him,” Martha insisted.

Mickey scoffed.  “Physically, maybe.”  He shook his head.  “I mean has either of you even seen him since he’s changed?”

“He visited Sarah Jane,” Martha answered softly.  “Last year.”

“What?” Jack and Mickey replied in unison.

“Jo told me a little while ago when I was saying goodbye to Luke and Sky,” Martha continued.  “She said he was practically a baby compared to the one she knew.”

“So he  _could_ be here,” Jack insisted as they glanced around looking at the faces of the people that passed as if searching for clues to locating someone with a hidden identity.

Rory stood by as they continued their strange conversation.  Something about this mystery man that they were talking about was bothering him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

At least he couldn’t until he heard it.

“Did you hear that?”  Martha asked breathlessly as the four of them snapped to attention.  She grabbed Rory by the hand and the four of them ran towards the sound.  Near the tree, where they had just been, stood the familiar blue box and next to the grave there he was with a redheaded woman.

“DOCTOR!”  Jack called out to him.

The Doctor turned at his name.  His face looked solemn until he saw the others.  “Captain Jack Harkness!”  He beamed as Jack saluted.  “I told you I hate that.”  He waved off his salute.  “How did things go with Alonzo?”  He rubbed his hands together.  “Wait.  Never mind.  I don’t think I want to know.”  He turned away from Jack.  “Mickey the Idiot!”  He hugged the man before he could protest.  “And Martha Jones!”  He grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed both of her cheeks.

Rory shook his head as everything finally started to sink in.  “Un-bloody-believable.”  He looked skyward for strength.

“RORY!”  The Doctor greeted him with a smile that slowly faded.  “Rory?”  He paused.  “What are  _you_ doing here?”  He glanced down at his hand.  Rory was still holding hands with Martha and their fingers were laced together.  “OH!  Oh…”

Suddenly, Martha was hit by the same realisation as Rory.  She looked to him for confirmation.  “Amy’s Doctor?”

Rory nodded slowly.  “Your Doctor?” he asked in return.

Martha glanced at the man as he tweaked his bowtie.  “Sorta.”  She looked at Rory again.  “So that means…”

The redheaded woman walked towards them slowly with her arms folded across her chest.  “Rory,” she greeted him stoically.

Rory let out a laboured breath and squeezed Martha’s hand tightly.  “Hello Amy.”


	11. Chapter 11

“Right!”  The Doctor clapped his hands together.  “Everyone inside the TARDIS,” he insisted as he began to nudge everyone towards the blue box.

Amy went in first and plopped down on the jump seat.  Rory led Martha to the opposite side of the console.  Mickey stood to the side glancing between Amy and Rory, while Jack explored the console room.

“You’ve remodelled since the last time,” Jack marvelled as he went up the stairs.

“Yes.  Well…”  The Doctor fidgeted with his bow tie.  “My last regeneration was more violent than most.”

“So what exactly is going on here?”  Mickey asked growing tired of the tension within the TARDIS.

“Mickey the Idiot.  Always slow on the uptake,” Jack joked as he joined the rest of them.  “Isn’t it obvious?”  He asked.  “Intergalactic partner swapping.”  He threw his arm around Mickey’s shoulder.  “Martha loves the Doctor, but she also loves Rory, who loves her and Amy, who wants to shag the Doctor, who is probably completely and utterly clueless.”  He smirked.  “It’s like a 51 st Century version of EastEnders.”

“Or Emmerdale,” Mickey suggested with a smirk.  “With the Doctor as Val.”

“He does have a thing for younger women,” Jack agreed with a laugh.

“Thing?  What thing?  There is no thing,” the Doctor insisted.

“You’ve moved on fast,” Amy spoke finally.

“Fast?  FAST?!”  Rory scoffed.  “It’s been a whole year,” he retorted angrily.  “Besides.  You did this!  You left me!” he reminded her.  “I waited for you, Amy.  All of Leadworth can tell you that,” he added through gritted teeth.  “I waited for two bloody months.  Two months I waited like a fool.  Carrying on like nothing had changed.  Two months before I just couldn’t take it anymore.”  He let go of Martha’s hand and ran both of his hands through his hair in frustration.  “What do you want from me?  Huh?  Did you expect me to wait around for the next 2000 years for you?”  He demanded as his voice cracked.  “Is that who I am?  The Boy Who Waited?”

“But you  _didn’t_ wait, Rory,” Amy replied as she slipped off the jump seat and headed up the stairs to her room. 

Rory watched her, but he didn’t follow.  Instead, it was Martha that ran after her.  Martha found her standing in the corridor with her back towards the stairs. 

“Amy?” Martha said gently as she approached the redhead.  Amy turned to face her and Martha saw that she was crying.

“Come to rub it in my face?” Amy asked bitterly as she dried her tears on the back of her hand.

“Never.”  Martha shook her head.  “I was you once after all.”

Amy folded her arms “Did your fiancé leave you for a hot doctor?”

“No,  _I_ left a fiancé and a husband for one,” Martha joked.  “But I just meant that understand how you feel.”  She paused.  “I was in love with the Doctor too.  Still am in a lot of ways.”

“Is it true he looked different?”

“Yea.”  Martha nodded.

“What was he like?”

“A smidge taller.  He wore suits back then.  Suits and trainers,” Martha explained.  “Bigger teeth.  Great hair.  And a bit more…”  She gestured towards her nose.  “Beaky.”

“Really?”  Amy laughed.  “It’s hard to imagine.”

“He was a lot angrier back then too. He had lost so much,” Martha remembered aloud.  “His home.  His family.  His entire race.”  She paused.  “Rose.”

“Rose?”  Amy repeated.

“The one before me.”

“So he had you by his side he was still thinking of another woman?”  Amy frowned.  “I bet she was blonde.”

“She was actually,” Martha laughed.

“I knew it!  What is it with men and blondes?  Please tell me she was insufferable.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, she was pretty amazing.”  Martha shrugged.  “He’s pretty selective.  So if he travels with you, you must be special.”

“How many of us has there been?” Amy asked.

Martha exhaled.  “More than I could name.”  Silence fell between the two of them.

“Nothing happened.”  Amy told Martha after a few minutes.  “I mean I kissed him once, but it was after Rory and I had that row.  It never meant anything and the Doctor pushed me away.”  She glanced at Martha.  “He probably hates me, right?  Both of you I’m sure.”

Martha shook her head.  “He’s only had good things to say.  He loved you Amy.”  She paused.  “He still does.”

“How?”  Amy scoffed.  “Look at the two of you all perfect and domestic.  The Dr and Mr Jones.”

“Do you still love him?” Martha asked suddenly.

“Yes,” Amy replied without hesitation.  She sighed softly.  “I can’t believe how much I’ve missed that stupid face of his.”  She felt the tears well up again.  “He’s had a whole year to forget me and I’ve barely had two weeks.”  She glanced down at her shoes.  “I got back to Leadworth and he was gone.  My best friend, Mels, said he just packed up and left.”

Martha stared at Amy and felt tears sting in the corners of her own eyes.  She tried to think of something to say to Amy, but nothing made sense.  So she did the only thing she could think of.  She reached over and took Amy by the hand.

Amy glanced down at Martha’s hand then looked up into her weepy brown eyes.  She felt strangely close to Martha in that moment.  They didn’t need to say anything else.  They just stood their holding hands in the corridor crying.  Nothing needed to be said.  Both of them understood the other one completely.


	12. Chapter 12

“So is that how this works?”  Rory asked the Doctor harshly.  “You take people off in this box of yours.  Show them all of time and space then just dump them off like yesterday’s rubbish?”

The Doctor leaned against his console silently.  Too silent in Rory’s opinion.

“You call them all your companions, but that’s not what they really are, is it?”  Rory asked viciously.  “Call them what they really are, Doctor.  Toys.  They’re all just play things.  Distractions for the crazy old man to pass the time,” he accused.  “How many have you cast aside?” he demanded.  “Huh?  Let’s see.  There’s Martha, Mickey and Jack.  That’s three right there.  Then there was Donna and Rose,” he called off the names he heard Martha and the others mention.  “Plus there was Jo.  And of course we can’t forget poor Sarah Jane.”

“DON’T YOU  _DARE_ SPEAK HER NAME!” The Doctor roared at Rory.  He advanced on him with fire behind his eyes, causing Rory to recoil against the railing.  “Don’t presume to know me, Rory,” he responded coldly as he adjusted his bowtie.

“I know enough,” Rory retorted.  “I know you break their hearts.”  He glanced at Mickey and Jack.  They both averted their eyes.  “You destroyed Martha,” he informed the Doctor.  “She won’t say a bad word about you, but the pain is there,” he insisted.  “You’ve ruined her life.  And now you’re doing the same thing to Amy.”

“They all have a choice,” the Doctor replied calmly as he ran his hands over the console.

“Do they?”  Rory scoffed.  “You say they have a choice, but how could they say no?” he asked.  “Who would  _dare_ say no to the all mighty Doctor?”  He shook his head.  “They all fight so hard to impress you, but as soon as you get bored you dump them.”

The Doctor exhaled slowly and tapped his fist against the console.  Rory could tell that he was getting to him, but he wasn’t about to back down.  “Amy—”

“I don’t care about Amy,” Rory countered before The Doctor could finish.  After the words left his mouth he realised the truth in them.  “Amy made her choice,” he stated firmly.  “But Martha…”  He exhaled.  “Just stay away from Martha.  She has a life.   _We_ have a life!”  He moved up the stairs towards the corridors.

In the corridor, he found Martha and Amy together.  “We’re leaving,” he announced to Martha.

“Rory,” Amy reached for him but he stepped away from her.  She dropped her hand reluctantly.  “I think you should know…”  She paused.  “It may have been a year for you, but it’s only been two weeks for me.”

Rory exhaled sharply.  “Two weeks during which you never bothered to say a word to me.”

Amy paused again.  “I’m sorry.”

“We’re not children anymore, Amy,” Rory reminded her harshly.  “You can’t just apologise and expect all to be forgiven!”  He exploded.  “This isn’t like your stories about the Raggedy Doctor.  This real life!  And you ruined mine when you left with him.  Or at least I thought you did.”  He calmed down slightly.  “But the truth is that you saved me.  You saved me from a lifetime of dealing with someone as childish and selfish as you.”

Amy looked like the wind had been knocked out of her.  She dropped Martha’s hand and placed her palms against the corridor wall to steady herself.

“You made your choice,” Rory continued.  “And I’ve made mine.”  He took Martha by the hand.  “We don’t have anything else to say to each other.”  He pulled Martha along as he exited the TARDIS and left Amy and the Doctor behind for good.

 

~*~

 

The drive back to their flat was quiet for Rory and Martha.  It wasn’t until they were home that either of them spoke again.

“Shouldn’t we talk about what happened?” Martha asked cautiously.

“What’s there to talk about?”  Rory loosened his tie.  “I wanted closure and that’s  _exactly_ what I got.”

“What about Amy?”

Rory scoffed.  “What  _about_ Amy?” he questioned.  “Should I have let her give her spiel about how she never meant to hurt me?  Or how she just wanted to see the universe?” he asked bitterly.

“Maybe.”

“Martha…”  Rory looked at her seriously.  “I know you feel like you have to say something nice about everyone, but don’t you dare defend her to me,” he warned.

Martha shrugged.  “I see a lot of myself in her.”

“No.” Rory shook his head.  “Don’t compare yourself to her,” he protested.  “You’re not the same.  Do you know why?  You made a choice,” he insisted angrily.  “You did the adult thing and took responsibility for what you did to Tom and Mickey.  Amy ran away.  Just like she always has and just like she always will.”

Martha nodded silently.  “Are we going to talk about the Doctor then?” she asked after a few moments of silence.

Rory exhaled sharply.  “Is there anything that  _needs_ to be said?”

“Just that if I knew that the Doctor was the one Amy...”  Martha paused.  “I never would have put you in that situation knowingly.”

“The fact that you never referred to him by name should have clued me in.”

“The signs were there,” Martha agreed.  “I guess we were both too daft to notice.”

Rory inhaled deeply.  “So the Doctor is the great love of your life?”

“I did love the Doctor, yea.”  Martha walked over to him.  “But not as much as I love you.”  She hooked her fingers through his belt loops and stared at their shoes.  “I spent so much time thinking about how much I connected with Amy.  Thinking about how I understood what it felt like to love the Doctor.”  She paused.  “But I forgot how much I empathise with you too.  I forgot how much it hurts to be second best.”  She felt tears sting in the corners of her eyes.  “I forgot how much he put me through.” 

Rory wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

“Even when you still had feelings for Amy, you never made me feel second best.”  Martha looked up into Rory’s eyes.  “And for that reason, I love you more than I could ever love him.”

Rory cupped Martha’s face in his hands and dried her tears with his thumbs.  “How could anyone meet you and not love you like you’re the only woman in the world?”

“Clearly they’d have to be blind,” Martha joked.

“Obviously!”  Rory laughed softly.

“So we’re okay, yea?”

“Better than okay.”

“If we can survive this, we can survive anything, yea?”

Rory nodded.  “What could possibly be harder than facing time traveling exes?”

“Parenthood,” she suggested.

“Yea, I suppose it—” Rory broke off and looked down at Martha who looked back up at him expectantly.  “You’re?”  Martha nodded.  “I’m?”

“Well I didn’t get myself this way.”  Martha laughed.

Rory broke into a huge grin.  “I’m gonna be a dad.”


	13. Chapter 13

The plan was to make their big announcement at Sunday lunch with the family.  The entire Jones clan had gathered at Francine’s house and Rory invited his father, Brian.

“I can’t believe how big she’s gotten,” Martha marvelled as her niece Keisha ran into her arms once they entered the house.

“They don’t stay small forever,” Leo quipped as he gave Martha a hug.  He moved on to Rory while Martha hugged his wife, Shonara.

Martha and Rory followed them into the lounge.  Martha took a seat on the sofa and pulled Keisha onto her lap.  She and Rory exchanged knowing glances.

Brian had arrived ahead of them and was talking animatedly with Clive.  Tish was chatting on her mobile with her newest bloke.  Francine greeted them briefly before returning to the kitchen to finish up the cooking.

“I’m gonna go see if your mum needs a hand with lunch,” he informed Martha as he left her behind with Shonara discussing Keisha’s recent accomplishments.

“Need a hand?”  Rory asked once he stepped in the kitchen.

“Well you can set the table,” Francine answered as she handed him a stack of plates.

“Sure thing.”  Rory took a deep breath as he took the plates from her and retreated to the dining room to set the table.  Normally, menial tasks calmed his nerves, but nothing could keep his mind off the possibility of incurring wrath of Francine Jones.  He returned to the kitchen for the cutlery, but paused once he gathered the knives and forks.  “Ms Jones…”

“Francine,” she corrected.  “I told you to call me Francine.”

Rory nodded as he walked over to her.  “Francine…”  He exhaled slowly.  “Martha…”  He paused and shifted nervously from side to side.  “I…”  He stopped again and took a deep breath.  “Martha’s pregnant and I want to marry her, not because she’s pregnant though, I want to marry her because I love her and she loves me and  _please_ don’t hate me,” he stated in one quick breath.

Francine glanced over her shoulder from her spot in front of the stove.  “I know she’s pregnant.”

“You do?” Rory panted softly as he tried to catch his breath.

“I don’t have to be a medical professional to know a pregnant woman when I see one,” Francine insisted.  “I have three children.”

“So…you’re not…angry…with me?”  Rory asked cautiously.

Francine stopped what she was doing and turned to Rory.  “Why would I be angry?” she asked seriously.  “Because my daughter is having a baby out of wedlock?”

“May…be,” Rory replied hesitantly.

“Well it’s certainly not ideal,” Francine admitted.  “But Shonara’s been my daughter-in-law for three years and Keisha is five.  I imagine someone in your line of work is fairly good with maths.”

“Right.”  Rory nodded.  “It’s just that Martha said you’ve hated every bloke she’s ever brought home.

“I didn’t hate them  _all_ .  Tom was decent enough.”  Francine returned to the pots on the range.  “Even Mickey had his moments.”

“I just want to make her happy,” Rory told her honestly.  “Martha’s happiness is the only thing that matters to me.  She’s my top priority.”

Francine glanced at him.  “And that’s why you’re my favourite, Rory.”  She smiled.

 

~*~

 

Martha and Rory weren’t sure when to make their big announcement, but the perfect opportunity arose when Leo offered to pour her a glass of wine.

“Oh my God!”  Tish shrieked as she hugged her little sister.

“I knew it,” Shonara smirked.  “The way you were looking at Keisha.  I know that expectant mummy look when I see it.”

“Congrats!”  Leo clapped Rory on the back.

“Should we be expecting another announcement soon then?”  Clive asked Rory suspiciously.

“This sounds familiar,” Leo quipped to Shonara.

“Dad.”  Martha looked at him seriously.  “Don’t start.”

“I just want to know if my grandchild will be a Jones or a Williams,” Clive retorted.

“They could always hyphenate,” Brian suggested.  “Jones-Williams.  Or Williams-Jones.  We Williams aren’t the picky sort.”

Martha sighed.  “I’m not even showing yet.  There’s no need to rush into planning a wedding.”  She set her fork down.  “I don’t even know if we  _should_ get married.”

“What?” Several people uttered in unison, the most notable of which was Rory.

“You don’t want to get married?” he asked taken aback.

Martha shrugged slightly.  “We don’t exactly have the best track record with weddings.”

“Yea and I was rubbish the first time I picked up a guitar, but I still learned to play,” Rory retorted.

Martha tilted her head to the side.  “You actually play the guitar?  I figured that was just there for decoration.”

Rory frowned.  “Don’t change the subject.”

“I just wanted to leave you an out.”  Martha glanced down.  “In case…”

“What in case?”  Rory demanded.  “There  _is_ no in case.  You’re the  _only_ case.”  He took her hands.  “Martha, if I wanted to be with Amy I could have taken her back when we were aboard the TARDIS.”

“The TARDIS?” Francine cut in.  “You saw him  _again_ ?”

Martha exhaled sharply.  “It’s a long story mum.”

“Long story or not, you are not ruining things for a third time for that man,” Francine declared.

“C’mon mum,” Tish placed a hand on Francine’s arm to calm her.  “You know how much the Doctor means to Martha.”

“I don’t care.”  Francine snatched her arm away from Tish.  “You have a good life here.  A good job.  A good man and a baby on the way.  What more do you need?”

“Nothing,” Rory answered for Martha.  “Except maybe this.”  He glanced back at Brian who reached into his pocket and put something small into Rory’s hand.  Rory slipped out of his chair and kneeled in front of Martha.  “I can’t promise you the stars, but I can promise to love you for the rest of my life.”  He opened his hand and offered her his mother’s ring.  “All you have to do is say yes.”

Martha cupped Rory’s face.  “Absolutely.”

“Yes?” Rory repeated.

Martha nodded.  “Yes.”  She kissed him softly.

Rory slipped the ring onto Martha’s finger before standing up and pulling Martha into his arms.  This was it.  Everything was finally falling into to place.  He was finally getting the life he always wanted.  A life with Martha.


	14. Chapter 14

Two months was all it took to plan their wedding.  Martha insisted that there was no rush, but Rory wanted to make things official before the baby came.  They still had a few more months to go before the little one’s arrival, but Tish convinced Martha that she didn’t want to waddle down the aisle the size of a baby elephant.  So that only gave them a limited amount of time.

Rory woke up the morning of June 25, 2011 with the sense of déjà vu.  The fact that his wedding to Martha was nearly one year to the day that Amy jilted him wasn’t lost on Rory.  He found himself absentmindedly reciting his mantra as he stared at Martha’s side of the bed.  ‘There’s no need for that,’ he told himself as he headed for the shower.

Martha wasn’t Amy.  She wouldn’t leave him standing at the altar alone.  He was sure of that.

It wouldn’t hurt to give her a ring though.

Rory dialled Martha’s mobile as he drank his morning cup of tea.

“Checking in on me, Nurse Williams?” Martha asked with a smile from her old bedroom.  She had spent the night before the wedding at her mother’s house.

“Just making sure you haven’t changed your mind, Dr Jones,” Rory responded as casually as he could muster.

“That’s the last time you’ll be able to call me that,” Martha reminded him cheerfully.

Rory relaxed at the contentment in her voice.  “Sure you don’t want to hyphenate?  Dr Martha Jones-Williams has a certain ring to it.”

“Williams-Jones sounds better.”

“Maybe I should take your name,” he suggested.  “How does Rory Jones sound?”

“Like a South African footballer,” she teased.

Rory smirked.  “Can I just say how hot it is that you know that?”

“Or you could show me after the wedding,” Martha replied suggestively.

“Oh, I’ll do that gladly.”

“See you at the altar, yea?”

“I can’t wait.”

 

~*~

 

They opted for a small ceremony.  Nice and intimate.  Mostly it was family and friends.  They invited Nicola and some of the others from the hospital, a few of Martha’s old UNIT contacts and some of the people Rory knew from Leadworth.  Mickey came along with Jack and a couple they introduced as Rhys and Gwen Williams.

“You wouldn’t happen to have family in Wales, would ya?” Rhys asked as he shook Rory’s hand firmly.

“Not that I know of,” Rory replied with a shake of his head.

“Like he’d admit it if he did,” Mickey joked.

“And London’s so great?” Rhys pressed.

“Compared to Cardiff?”  Mickey scoffed.  “Loads better!”

“Let’s not play us versus them,” Jack insisted.

“Said the American.”  Gwen nudged him playfully.

“Hush.”  Jack led the three of them to their seats.

Rory rubbed his hands together nervously.  Everyone was in place.  The only thing missing was Martha.

“She’ll be here,” Brian assured him.

“I know,” Rory insisted.  “I just afraid something else will get in the way,” he confessed to his father.  “It’s all been too easy.  What if the universe decides today is the day it wants to take the Mick?”

“Why would the universe care about your wedding to Martha?”

Rory’s thoughts drifted to Amy and the Doctor.  “No reason.”

“Well pack it in.” Brian gestured towards the entrance of the chapel.

Rory turned to see Martha standing at the end of the aisle on Clive’s arm.  She wore a simple white A-line dress that accommodated her growing belly.  Her hair was pulled back with flowers in lieu of a veil.  She was so beautiful that he nearly forgot how to breathe.

“Alright?” Martha whispered once they were in front of each other.

“As long as you’re by my side,” Rory nodded.  “Then I always will be.”

 

~*~

 

“Well Mrs Williams,” Rory spun Martha on the dance floor.

“Dr Williams,” Martha corrected as he pulled her close again.

Rory rolled his eyes playfully.  “Always pulling rank.”

“I thought you liked when I took control,” she replied with a smirk.

“You talk like that with your mum in the room?” he whispered close to her ear.

Martha glanced over Rory’s shoulder at Francine dancing with Brian.  “She knows I didn’t get pregnant from holding your hand.”

“Doesn’t mean we need to give them a demonstration.”

“It would certainly make it a wedding to remember,” she quipped.

“May I cut in?” Jack asked walking up to them.

“I suppose,” Rory agreed.  He had only let go of Martha’s hand for a second when he felt Jack slide his arm around his waist and pull Rory close to him.  He wasn’t sure what made him assume that Jack meant Martha because he had witnessed Jack had flirting with every living creature in earshot since they met.  “Oh why the hell not,” Rory shrugged as he put his hand on Jack’s shoulder and allowed the American to take the lead.

Martha laughed as Jack guided Rory around the dance floor.  “You better give him back at the end of the song, Jack.”

“He’s a fun one that Jack” A female voice came from over Martha’s shoulder.  Martha turned to see a woman around her age with braids.  “Love a man in uniform.”

Martha had never seen the woman before so she assumed she was one of Rory’s friends from Leadworth.  “I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”

“Who needs an introduction?”  The woman smiled.  There was something strangely familiar about her, but Martha couldn’t quite put her finger on it.  “You’re the woman who changed the future.  Martha Jones.  Well…Williams now, isn’t it?”

“Have we met?”  Martha asked suspiciously.

“Who knows?”  The woman shrugged.  “Timelines.  Never know which direction I’m traveling.  Especially these days.  My timeline is erasing itself.”  She glanced at Martha.  “I reckon I have you to thank for that.”

“What?”  Martha stared at her like she was a proper nutter.  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Can’t give you all the blame though,” The woman watched Rory and Jack.  “You’re just one piece of a great big timey wimey puzzle.”

Martha paused.  “What did you just say?”

The woman smirked.  “Penny in the air.”

“Do you know the Doctor?”

“And the penny drops,” the woman replied with a wide grin.  “You’re a quick one Martha Jones.  Much quicker than the others.”

“Who are you?” Martha demanded.

“If I tell you that, it’ll spoil everything.”  The woman laughed.  “Here comes the groom,” she commented as she spotted Jack releasing Rory.  “Give him my love,” she told Martha as she began to walk away.  “I’d stay, but weddings aren’t really my thing.”

Martha watched the mysterious woman walk away.  She didn’t even notice Rory standing in front of her until he put his arm around her.

“That Jack is a surprisingly good dancer,” Rory confessed.

“I just had the weirdest conversation,” Martha informed him.  “There was this woman I never saw before.  She was young and black with braids.  I think she knows the Doctor.”

“Mels?” Rory asked as he looked around.

“You know her?”

“She’s one of my best mates,” Rory responded as he searched the room for her.  “Amy and I grew up with her in Leadworth.  Amy was always telling her stories about the Doctor and Mels was convinced she was going to marry him when she grew up.”

“I don’t understand why she didn’t just tell me who she was then.”  Martha frowned.

Rory shrugged.  “Mels always has been dramatic.”  He looked at Martha.  “I’m a bit surprised she showed up.  She always says she doesn’t do weddings.”

“She didn’t go to your wedding with Amy?”  Martha asked as they started dancing again.

“No,” Rory shook his head.  “I remember everyone there because I had to personally apologise to all of them,” he added bitterly.  “I knew everyone there except this one woman.”  He paused as he thought back.  “She never gave her name.  I just remember a mess of blond curls.”  He laughed softly.  “I could never forget that much hair.”  He spun her around.  “It’s funny though.”

“What is?”  Martha asked as he twirled her back into his arms.

“Now that I think about it, she kind of reminds me of that Jane Doe we had in,” Rory commented.

“The one we transferred to the cardiac unit?”

“Yea,” Rory nodded as they swayed to the music.  “I reckon she just has one of those faces.  I mean why would the same woman pop up at my wedding in Leadworth and then again at the hospital where I work in London?  She wouldn’t, right?”  He reasoned.  “Not unless she knew me.”

Martha leaned her head against Rory’s shoulder and frowned as the wheels began to turn in her head.  “Exactly.”


	15. Chapter 15

Martha tried to shake the strange feeling inside her over the next few weeks, but she couldn’t let it go.  Maybe it was her time in UNIT or her time with the doctor.  Or maybe she had watched Sherlock one too many times, but Martha was convinced that there had to be a connection between the mysterious blonde at Rory’s first wedding and their Jane Doe at the hospital.

Martha made her way to the cardiac unit under the pretence of doing a follow-up on Jane Doe.  It wasn’t a complete lie.  She did care about the woman’s health.  Her vitals had stabilised, but the cardiologist on staff wasn’t convinced that she was out of danger yet and insisted on keeping her there for observations.

Jane Doe was sitting upright when Martha entered her room.  She could tell that she was still weak, but it was the most coherent Martha had seen her in the three months since she was first admitted.

“It’s been awhile.”  The woman smiled at Martha.  “I hear congratulations are in order, Dr Williams.”  She looked her over slowly.  “Double congratulations from the looks of it.”

“Thank you.”  Martha instinctively touched her growing belly as she took a seat next to the bed.

“It’s going to be a boy.”

“My dad thinks so too.”  Martha smiled.

“The first of many.”

“Many?”

“Sooner rather than later.”

Martha laughed.  “I don’t know about all of that.  Rory and I have barely had time to enjoy being newlyweds.  It going to be hard enough balancing work and an infant, I can’t foresee us having other for a long while.”

“I can,” the woman retorted with a smile.  “Your timeline has always been one of the more interesting ones.”

“The things you say…”  Martha frowned.  “You remind me of someone I used to know.”

“The Doctor changes us all, Martha.  Some of us more than others.”

It had occurred to Martha that Jane Doe knew the Doctor.  The thing she said about her Doctor coming because of someone’s death turned out to be haunting similar to the events surrounding Sarah Jane’s funeral and after Rory’s comments, she was convinced that the woman was a time traveller.  Now she had more or less confirmed Martha’s suspicions.  “Who are you?”

“I go by many names…but the Doctor knows me as River Song.”

“River.”  Martha nodded.  “So you’re one of the Doctor’s companions.”

River smiled knowingly.  “In a matter of speaking.”

“But you’re more than that, aren’t you?” Martha asked.  “You know things even the Doctor doesn’t know.  So you must be from his future.”

“You’ve always been a quick one, Martha.  Much quicker than the others.”

Martha paused thoughtfully.  “It was you Rory saw at the wedding, wasn’t it?”

River’s smiled widened.  “ _Which_ wedding?”

Martha fell silent again.  “When we first met,” she began after a minute with her thoughts.  “You said that that you were looking for your father.  You said that he was at a hospital in London and that I had fixed him.”

“Penny in the air.”

“I thought you were talking about a patient, but that was never it, was it?  Because you’re  _his_ daughter,” Martha concluded.  “You’re Rory’s daughter.”

“Melody Williams, at your service.”

“Melody.”  Martha exhaled as she was hit with the sudden realisation.  “Mels.”

“And the penny drops.”

“But how?” Martha asked.  “You changed your hair and your face and…your whole bloody ethnicity changed.”  She shook her head.  “I’d say you were like the Doctor, but he’s alien.  A Time Lord from Gallifrey.  I mean how can Rory’s daughter regenerate?  He’s human.”

“Because I’m a child of the TARDIS conceived on board during Amy and Rory’s honeymoon.  Human DNA spliced with Time Lord,” River informed her.  “Probably why my cardiologist can’t make heads nor tails of my prognosis.”  She smirked.

Martha tried to process everything.  River…Melody was Rory’s daughter and she was dying.  “You said I couldn’t fix you…”

“My timeline is erasing itself.”

“If Amy and Rory never got married, then you were never born.”

“At least in this timeline,” River countered.  “None of this was ever supposed to happen, but the Doctor returned to Amy’s timeline at the wrong point.  He was too early and everything changed.”  She paused.  “It’s a bit bizarre having more than one timeline in your head at once.  Different memories.  Different lives.  One step away from creating a paradox at all times.”  She smiled.  “That’s just a regular day for the Doctor though I suppose.”

“Why aren’t you trying to save yourself?”  Martha asked suddenly.  “Why not just ask the Doctor to fix your timeline?”

“Too many questions,” River reasoned.  “He can’t find out who I am yet.”

Martha scoffed bitterly.  “So instead you unload all of this on me?  Why?  So I can fix it?  Because I promised I’d do everything in my power to help you?”

“Nothing I could say will make you feel any better,” River insisted gently.  “Either way, Rory loses a wife and a child.”

“And what about me?”  Martha demanded angrily.  “What about what  _I_ lose?”

“This isn’t the life you were meant to live, Martha.”  River hesitated.  “I’d say more, but foreknowledge is a dangerous thing.”

Martha scoffed again.  “Foreknowledge of a life that never was in a timeline that hasn’t happened.”

River nodded, deciding that Martha was right and it was safe to tell her about her future.  “You went to America after your divorce from Mickey.  You worked in a hospital then one day you met a man.  He was broken and alone and you fixed him just like you did for Rory.  The two of you fell in love.”

“And Rory?”

River exhaled slowly.  “He and Amy loved each other to the very end.  He was happy.”

Martha felt tears sting the corners of her eyes.  “Happier than he is with me?”

“I couldn’t say.”

“You can’t or you won’t?”

“Can’t.”

“So that’s it then?”  Martha asked.  “I have to choose which life everyone gets to live?”  She stood up.  “I’m sorry River, but I choose this one,” she declared firmly.  “I’m sorry that you have to die, but your world doesn’t feel real to me.  This…”  She rubbed her belly.  “ _This_ is real.  I feel my baby growing inside me and I can’t erase him or her from existence.  This is the only life I know.”  She turned to walk away.

“Martha, if I die, so does the Doctor,” River blurted out suddenly.  Martha froze at her words.  “If I’m not there to save him…the Doctor will die.  For real this time.”  She paused.  “Please, Martha.  If not for me…do it for him.  Do it for the Doctor and all the lives he’ll be able to save.”


	16. Chapter 16

“Martha?”  Rory looked at her seriously as they lay in bed.  Something was bothering her over the last few weeks, but any time he asked she’d change the subject or blame it on hormones.  “I think we need to talk.”

Martha rolled onto her side to face him.  “About what?”

“You keep saying it’s nothing, but I know something is bothering you.  You haven’t been the same since our wedding.”  He sat up.  “Do you regret marrying me?” he asked bluntly.

“Of course not.”  Martha frowned and sat up as well.  “Marrying you was the best thing I’ve ever done.”  She took his hand into her own.  “I love you, Rory.”

Rory looked down at their hands.  “So why are you keeping secrets from me?”

Martha hated keeping Rory in the dark about everything River had told her, but she did it because she was afraid.  The fact of the matter was that the decision would impact him the most.  She had made her choice easily, but Rory deserved to have his say as well.  And she was honestly afraid of which life he’d choose.

“Do you belief in destiny?” Martha asked after weighing her options silently.

Rory shrugged.  “I suppose.”

“Do you think we were meant to be together?  That everything that happened with Amy and the Doctor happened for a reason?  So that you’d come to London and meet me?”

Rory took a moment to contemplate her question.  “I think we were both meant to meet each other.”

“But what if we weren’t?”

Rory stared at her in confusion.  “Sorry?”

Martha chose her words carefully.  “What if you had two different lives?  The one we have now and a different one where you married Amy.  Which would you choose?”

“I don’t have to choose.  This is the only life I have.”

“But if you could?”  Martha paused.  “If you  _had_ to choose.”

“I’d choose this life,” Rory replied without hesitation.  “I’d choose you and our son.”

“Even if Amy was pregnant as well?”  Martha challenged.  “If you had a daughter that was dying because you chose to be with me?”

Rory ran his hand through his hair in frustration.  “She can’t die because she doesn’t exist.”

“But she does,” Martha replied softly.  She explained to Rory everything that she had learned about him and Amy and Melody and their lives travelling with the Doctor.

Rory was silent while she spoke, but once she finished he exhaled sharply.  “Well that’s just…rubbish.”  He scoffed softly.  “Like hell would I let a daughter of mine marry the Doctor.”

Martha laughed softly.  She loved Rory’s ability to diffuse the tension with a joke.  “That’s the part that bothers you?”

“The whole thing bothers me.”  Rory looked at Martha seriously.  “It bothers me that Mels—” he struggled to wrap his head around the idea that his best friend since childhood was really his daughter.  “That Melody would put you in this situation.  That she would have the audacity to be so selfish.”  He paused thoughtfully.  “I reckon she got that bit from Amy.”

“Can you blame her for trying to save the man she loves?”

“Yea,” Rory nodded.  “I can blame her and I do.  I understand her motivation, but she should have sorted it herself.  She had no right to drag you into this.”  He shook his head.  “You’ve sacrificed enough for the Doctor.”  Martha had told him about her time with the Doctor and Rory openly questioned her sanity.  He thought his loyalty to Amy was one thing, but Martha’s relationship with the Doctor was downright unhealthy.

Martha smiled at Rory brightly.  “You’re amazing.”

Rory leaned over and kissed her passionately.  “Don’t you dare forget it.”

Martha smirked.  “As if I could.”

Rory lowered his head and kissed her belly before climbing out of bed.  “I’m gonna go put the kettle on for some tea.”

Martha watched Rory leave their bedroom and smiled to herself.  She was lucky to have him in her life.  He loved her more than any man she had ever loved and she was thankful for that.  Rory made her a better person.  Stronger.  More determined.  Thanks to him, she knew exactly what she had to do.

Martha reached over to her night table and retrieved her mobile.  She searched the contacts until she came across the Doctor’s name.  She took a deep breath and dialled.  “Doctor…we need to talk.”

 

~*~

 

Martha exhaled sharply.  Her life had changed dramatically in the past few months.  She instinctively placed her hands on her stomach as she stood in front of the mirror.  She glanced down at the flatness of her belly and secretly longed to feel her son kicking her from the inside again.

“Are you still getting dressed?”  Rory asked as he walked into their bedroom cradling their newly born son in his arms.  “Everyone’s waiting for us.”

Martha groaned softly.  She wasn’t in a partying mood, but it was Christmas and the family was getting together at her mum’s house for lunch.  The least she could do was try to get into the holiday spirit.  “I just feel so…”

“What?”

“Nothing.”  Martha turned towards little Brian Arthur Williams and smiled.  “Mummy was being silly in front of the mirror again,” she whispered to her son.

“Martha…”  Rory frowned.  “We’ve talked about this.”

Martha rolled her eyes.  “It’s not postpartum,” she insisted.  “It’s only been a fortnight since Brian was born.  I’m still adjusting.”

Rory scoffed softly.  “If this is the adjusting phase, I can’t wait to see you when you’re back to top form.”  He looked his wife over slowly.  If someone had just met her, they wouldn’t have been able to tell that she had recently given birth, but Martha still felt self-conscious about her appearance.  Rory personally planned to thoroughly remove any doubts she had about her sex appeal once the opportunity presented itself.

“Not in front of the baby,” Martha scolded playfully as she lifted Brian from his father’s arms and laid him down in his pram.

“He’s too young to know what we’re saying.”  Rory wrapped his arms around Martha’s waist and kissed the back of her neck.

Martha laughed softly as she leaned into his kisses.  “That may be, but his eyes work just fine.”  She turned to face him.  “Do you want his first memories to be of us shagging?”

“Martha,” Rory smirked.  “I have no doubt that Brian will be as brilliant as his mum, but he’s only two weeks old.  He barely remembers that he has toes on the ends of his feet.”

Martha glanced over at Brian, who was sleeping peacefully in his pram.  “Don’t you dare wake him up,” she threatened with a smirk as she pushed Rory out of the bedroom and towards the lounge.

“I’ll be as quiet as a mouse,” Rory insisted in a whisper as his hands moved over Martha’s hips.  He guided her backwards towards the sofa.

“Wait…”  Martha paused.  “Do you hear that?”

“The baby isn’t crying,” Rory replied as he searched for the zipper to Martha’s dress.

Martha nudged him gently.  “No, Rory.  Listen!”

Rory lifted his head and that’s when he heard it.  The sound of the TARDIS coming from his and Martha’s bedroom.  He and Martha looked at one another.

“Brian,” they said in unison.


	17. Chapter 17

Rory and Martha raced towards their bedroom.  Inside, they found the familiar blue box next to their bed and the Doctor standing over Brian.

“Doctor…” Rory said cautiously as he approached the pram.  He grasped the handle and wheeled Brian away from the Doctor.  “What are you doing here?”

“You rang me,” the Doctor gestured towards Martha.

“Yea, three months ago.”  Martha frowned.

“You rang him?” Rory asked.  There was a note of sadness in his voice that broke Martha’s heart.

“Yea,” Martha nodded slowly.  “But I swear it’s not for the reason you think,” she assured him with a kiss.

“You humans.  Always with the kissing.”  The Doctor cringed.  “This is why I never travel with couples.”

“We’re not travelling with you,” Rory reminded him before kissing Martha defiantly.  “I’ll let the two of you talk,” he whispered to his wife before wheeling Brian into the other room.

“Martha Jones!”  The Doctor relaxed once Rory had left the room.  He threw his arms around Martha and hugged her tightly.

Martha hesitated at first, but gave in to his embrace.  “It’s Williams now.”  She flashed him her wedding ring.  “Rory and I got married.”

“Martha  _Williams_ ?” the Doctor questioned with a frown.  “No, that’s rubbish.  Change it back.  Jones is a brilliant name.  Have Rory take yours,” he insisted as lead her inside the TARDIS.  “I met a Rory Jones once in South Africa.  Footballer.  Convinced him to join Pretoria Callies.  I said, ‘Rory my boy, it’s the right thing to do.’”

“You still ramble,” Martha marvelled with a smile as she leaned again the railing.

“I  _am_ the same man,” the Doctor reminded her.  “Just with a different…well everything.”

“I know it’s you in my head, but my heart…”  Martha paused.

“Do you remember the first time you met me?” the Doctor asked.

“You were a patient,” Martha thought aloud.  “I listened to your heartbeat.  There were two different ones.”

“That was the first time I met  _you_ ,” the Doctor corrected.  “The first time you met me was on the street outside the hospital,” he reminded her.  “I took my tie off and said…”

“‘Like so, see?’” they recounted in unison.

“So you have the same memories,” Martha acknowledged.

“I remember everything.”  The Doctor exhaled.  “Even some things I’d rather forget,” he added gravely.  “But it’s important to remember even the bad parts.”

Martha scoffed in spite of herself.  “Is it?”

The Doctor turned away from her.  “You have every right to be cross with me.”  He stroked the console of the TARDIS as he avoided Martha’s eyes.  “I treated you quite poorly.”

“Poorly?”  Martha scoffed more audibly than before.  “That’s a bloody understatement if I ever heard one.”  She folded her arms.  Maybe it was because he had a different face that she felt like she could finally say the things that she had held in for so long.

“You treated me like dirt.  Like I was less than human.”  The anger rose inside her quickly.  “All I ever wanted was to know that I mattered, but all I got in return was a constant reminder that I wasn’t Rose.”

“Rose…”  The Doctor chose his words carefully.  “She was important to me.  The Time War made me bitter and angry.  I was lost and alone and guilt ridden,” he confessed.  “Rose helped me forget about all that.  Then when I lost her…the darkness returned.”

“Is that supposed to be an excuse?” Martha asked bitterly.

“No,” the Doctor looked her in the eyes.  “There  _is_ no excuse.”  He shook his head sorrowfully.  “I’m sorry, Martha.  I’m so sorry.”

Martha turned her back to him.  She could feel tears welling up in her eyes and she refused to let him see her cry.  She appreciated the Doctor’s apology, but somehow it didn’t feel right coming from a different version of him.  “Too little too late, don’t you think?”

The Doctor nodded.  “Better late than never though, right?” he asked with false enthusiasm.  When Martha failed to respond, he wrung his hands together.  “I should have apologised a long time ago,” he admitted.

“But you didn’t,” Martha sniffed hard.  “ _He_ didn’t.”

“Martha...”  The Doctor closed the distance between them.  “He... _I_ …I didn’t say it enough, but you’ve always been special to me,” he informed her.  “You’re one of my favourites, you know.”

Martha rolled her eyes.  “I find that pretty hard to believe.”

“It’s true,” the Doctor insisted.  “I chose you because you were brilliant.”

“But not as brilliant as Rose,” Martha retorted bitterly.

“Rose had her own brand of wisdom, yes.  But you’re different, Martha.  You’re so much more than the others.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The Doctor leaned against the railing so that he could look at Martha’s face.  “From the moment we landed on the moon, I knew you were different from the rest,” he explained.  “Rose had never been anywhere until she met me.  Mickey lacked maturity.  Jack never had any roots.  Donna didn’t believe in herself.  But you Martha, you didn’t need me to guide you or to help you grow.  And I reckon that’s why I chose you.  The less you needed me, the less I’d have to hold on.”

Martha let out a mirthless laugh.  “You picked me because I was easy to let go of?”

“I know it sounds cruel, but at that point the thought of losing someone else was too much for me to bear,” the Doctor confessed.

“Good to know I’m so expendable,” Martha replied sarcastically.

“But you weren’t,” the Doctor insisted.  “I didn’t realise it at the time, but I always needed you more than you needed me.”

Martha stole a glance at him and was surprised to see a look of pride on his face as he looked at her.

“You told me that the title of doctor was something that had to be earned,” the Doctor added.  “You’ve more than earned it, Martha.  You’re brilliant and brave and loyal.”

“With the patience of a saint,” Martha quipped.

“That as well,” the Doctor smirked.  “But more importantly, Martha Jones.”  He paused.  “You’re  _my_ Doctor.”

Martha felt the rage die down.  “Apology accepted,” she replied softly.

“So…”  The Doctor clapped his hands together, clearly happy to move on from talk of human emotions.  “I assume you rang for a reason.”

“I did.”  Martha nodded.  “There’s something I need you to do.  Something I need you to change,” she explained.

The Doctor frowned.  “You want me to change the past?”

“No,” Martha shook her head.  “I want you to set things right, but I need something in return first.”

“Anything.”

“I want you to come back for me.  I can’t tell you when exactly, but the TARDIS…”  Martha touched the console.  “She’ll know what to do.  I just need more time.”

“Time for what?”

Martha smiled brightly.  “Time for my happy ending.”

 

~*~

 

Rory sat on the sofa looking watchfully over Brian.  He glanced up when he heard the TARDIS dematerialise.  He momentarily wondered if Martha would leave with the Doctor without telling him, but he shook the thought off.

Martha entered the lounge with a smile on her face.  “Still sleeping?”

“Yep.”  Rory stood up.  “Everything alright?”  He walked over to her and put his arms around her.

Martha nodded as she sunk into his arms.  “It will be.”

“Good.”  Rory rested his chin on top of her head.  “We should get going soon.  Your mum will be mad if we’re late for lunch.”

“I rang her and told here we’re not coming,” Martha informed him.

Rory pulled away from her slightly so he could look her in the eyes.  “Why?”

“Because it’s Christmas and I want to spend every second of it alone with you.”

“Oh?”  Rory smirked.  “Does that mean I get to unwrap my present early?” he asked as his hands found her zipper again.

“Absolutely.”


	18. Chapter 18

Rory exhaled as he tried to collect himself.  “This is really happening.”

“We knew it would come to this eventually,” Martha replied calmly.

“I know.”  Rory nodded.  “I just didn’t think it’d be so…”  He made a strange noise.

“Of course.  Our whole lives are about to change.”  She looked at him seriously.  “You’re not regretting our decision are you?”

“No,” Rory insisted, but Martha could see the nervousness in his eyes.

“Everything will be fine,” Martha assured him, cupping his face gently and kissing him softly.

“Oi!” Donna Temple-Noble shrieked from behind them.  “Less with the kissy face and more saving lives, yea?”  She demanded from the doorway.  “Today might only be the first day of business, but you’ve got a lotta patients to see.”

Rory frowned as he watched Donna walk back to the front desk.  He and Martha considered themselves equals.  They made all their decisions together.  When they decided to move from Whitechapel to Chiswick it was a joint decision.  When they decided to open their own clinic, they were on the same page.  When it came to hiring Nicola and Martha’s ex Tom as staff, they agreed that both would be great assets to the business.  But Martha’s insistence on hiring the mouthy ginger as their office manager was one subject they didn’t see eye to eye on.

“I understand you and Donna have a history, but is it really necessary for her to work  _here_ ?” Rory asked once again as they prepped for the busy day ahead of them.

“Don’t let the attitude fool you.”  Martha smirked.  “Donna can do the job.”

“OH…MY…GOD!”  Donna shrieked from the reception area.  Martha and Rory ran out to see what the commotion was about.

“What’s going on?” Martha asked.

Nicola and Tom were standing nearby with red faces.  “Just a little good luck snog,” Nicola supplied.

“Is this a surgery or bloody couples’ retreat?” Donna asked irritably.  “How are we supposed to have a business with you lot pairing off for snog breaks?”

“You’re the one that told me to ask him out,” Nicola reminded Donna.

“ _After_ work,” Donna clarified with an eye roll.

“But he’s  _so_ fit,” Nicola whimpered to Donna as she watched Tom walk away.

“Pack it in,” Donna insisted.

“It’s easy for you lot.  You’re married.  I’m single and pushing thirty,” Nicola leaned against the desk.  “Now there’s a gorgeous, orphan saving doctor that’s fancies me.  Subtly is  _not_ the answer.”

Martha laughed softly at Nicola.  “Just be sure to name the first one after us.”

Nicola smirked.  “Only because you promised to name this one after me,” she replied as she walked over and touched Martha’s growing belly.  “I can’t believe you’re preggers again.”

Martha exhaled.  “Neither can I.”  She touched her own stomach.  “I mean Brian only just turned three.”

“He’s excited about being a big brother,” Rory added with pride.

“You’re both mental.”  Donna shook her head.  “Shaun thinks I should quit temping, live off the lottery winnings for a bit and have a few more, but I told him, I said ‘I was an only child and I turned out great.  Geoffrey doesn’t need any sisters or brothers.’”

“I think two would be good,” Nicola thought aloud.  “Tamsin and Nicholas.  Tasmin Milligan has a nice ring to it, don’t ya think?”

“I don’t think we ever discussed a number,” Martha commented as she turned to Rory.

“The more the merrier,” Rory replied with a wide smile.

 

~*~

 

“What do you mean there’s _two_?”  Rory asked in a panic.

“That’s generally what twins means,” Dr Caroline Tamm replied.  They had hired her six months after opening the clinic.  With Caroline’s addition as an obstetrician and gynaecologist and Tom as the resident paediatrician, their clinic covered the whole scope of family medicine.  “The second one must have been hiding on the previous ultrasounds,” she told them as she checked the screen.  “It’s not uncommon.  Sometimes they even have synchronised heartbeats.”

“Twins,” Rory repeated in a daze.

“You said ‘the more the merrier,’” she reminded him with smirk.

“I was under the impression that we’d add more one at a time.”

Martha laughed softly.  “Since when has life ever gone like we’ve expected it?”

Rory nodded.  “True.”

“We can do it,” Martha insisted.  She reached for his hand as Caroline let them heard their babies’ heartbeats.  “We can handle anything as long as we’re together.”

Rory squeezed Martha’s hand as he listened to the sweet sound of their babies’ hearts.  “We can do this.   _I_ can do this.”

 

~*~

 

“You can’t do this!”

Rory scoffed.  “I most certainly can.”

Francine Nichole Williams huffed as she stormed out of the kitchen.  “MUM,” she shrieked.  “Dad is trying to ruin my life.”

Martha looked up as their daughter trudged into the lounge and plopped down dramatically on the sofa.  “Ruin it how, Cici?”

“He won’t let me go to Geoffrey’s party,” Cici whined.

“Geoffrey is turning sixteen,” Rory said as he entered the lounge with cups of tea for Martha and himself.  “There’s no way my twelve year old daughter is going to be at a party filled with sixteen year old boys.”

“But I’ve known Geoffrey my  _whole_ life!”

“It’s not that we don’t trust you, sweetie,” Martha insisted.  “But we don’t know all of Geoffrey’s mates.”

“But Brian will be there as well,” Cici pointed out.

Brian scoffed as he passed through the room.  “As if I want you following me around.”

“All of you just want me to be boring like Sarah Jane!”  Cici hopped off the sofa. 

Sarah Jane lowered the book she was reading to the youngest of Martha and Rory’s children, six year old Jackson Clive Williams, and stared at her twin sister.  “I’m not boring.”

“I hate my life and I hate all of you!”  Cici stomped up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door behind her. 

Rory lifted his tea to his lips without the slightest flinch.  Cici had a personality just as strong as her grandmother Francine, but Rory was impervious to his daughter’s mood swings.

“You know she fancies Geoffrey,” Martha reminded Rory.

“He’s too old for her,” Rory insisted.

“At least he’s not a 900 year old alien,” Martha quipped as she nodded her head towards Sarah Jane.

Sarah Jane was reading  _A Journal of Impossible Things_ for the hundredth time.  She was fascinated by the Doctor and all of his adventures.  Once she realised that her mum was the Martha Jones in the book, she begged Martha to tell her stories about her days with the Doctor.

“It’s like Amy all over again,” Rory commented wistfully as he thought about Amy’s childhood crush on the Doctor.

“How is she by the way?”  Martha asked at the mention of redhead’s name.

Rory had made his peace with Amy a little over a decade ago.  They had crossed paths when the Williams clan ventured to Leadworth to visit Rory’s father.  Amy told him that she travelled with the Doctor for a bit after the last time they saw each other before giving it all up and marrying their long-time friend, Jeff Angelo.  She now worked as a writer for a travel blog.

“Last I heard she was in Bali.”  Rory sipped his tea.  “I reckon she better slow down though.  It isn’t good to travel that far along into pregnancy.”

Martha smirked.  “Don’t underestimate the will of an expecting mother.”

Rory scoffed playfully.  “You gave me hell before the twins arrived.”

“I was mentally preparing you for life with Cici,” Martha teased.

“Nothing could have prepared me for that.”  He laughed softly.  “Geoffrey has no idea what he’s in for.”

“I think he’ll be alright,” Martha insisted.  She watched Jack snuggle up to his big sister and listen to more stories.  “I think they all will be.”

Rory put his arm around Martha.  “We did pretty well for ourselves.”

Martha nodded.  “I can’t believe it’s already been seventeen years,” she marvelled.  “It feels like just yesterday that we met for the first time.”

“Time flies when you’re with the one you love.”  He kissed Martha on the forehead.

Martha leaned her head against Rory shoulder.  “Promise to fly with me forever.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”


	19. Chapter 19

“Rory!” Martha called out as she began to set three places at the kitchen table.  “Lunch is ready!”

“Let me, mum.” Sarah Jane took the dishes from Martha and set the table.  “You look like you could use a nap,” she commented as she finished up.

“I think so.”  Martha nodded slowly.  “I’m just going to have a seat in the lounge for a bit.”  She moved gingerly towards the other room.

Sarah Jane frowned as she watched her elderly mother move through the house.  She worried about her mum.  She hadn’t been the same in the last few months.  Not since dad died.

Sarah Jane convinced her mother to sell the old house in Chiswick and move in with her in Cardiff.  Her place was nice and small, the perfect size for the three of them.  Just her, mum and Rory.

Sarah Jane passed through the lounge, glancing at her sleeping mother and down the hall to Rory’s bedroom.  “Rory!”  She called out as she searched the room for the four year old.  ‘Where  _is_ that boy?’  She wondered as she looked for him under bed and inside the closet.  “Rory?”  She called out again as panic started to set in.  “RORY!”  She screamed frantically as she ran through the flat searching.  He wasn’t in the bathroom or her room.  The only place she hadn’t checked was her mother’s room, but Rory knew he wasn’t allowed to go in there without permission.

“Rory?”  Sarah Jane’s called out fearfully as she opened the door.  She gasped softly as she took in the scene.  Rory was in Martha’s room, but he wasn’t alone.  He was sitting on the bed next to a stranger in a bowtie and there was a blue police box standing near the bed.  “It’s you.”

“It’s me!”  The Doctor replied gleefully as he stood up with arms outstretched.  “But who are you?”

“Sarah Jane,” she replied breathlessly as she moved towards him.  “Sarah Jane Williams.”

“I knew a Sarah Jane once,” the Doctor looked wistful.  “Sarah Jane Smith.”

Sarah nodded.  “I’m named after her,” she informed him.  “My mum knew her.”

“Your mum?”  The Doctor asked.

“My parents are Rory and Martha Williams.”

“The Dr and Mr Jones!”  The Doctor clapped his hands together happily.  “Are they here?”  He looked at the little boy suddenly.  “Rory.  You called him Rory.  Why did you call him Rory?”

“Because it’s his name,” Sarah answered simply.

“Rory Williams?   _My_ Rory?”  The Doctor picked the four year old up.  “Rory, what happened to you?  Some sort of retroactive aging?”  He inspected the child closely.  “Wait a tick.”  He sniffed him deeply.  “No.  Definitely not my Rory.”  He licked the child’s hand which caused the little boy to giggle.  “Same genetic strain, but twice removed.”  He paused.  “No, three times.”

“He’s my grandson,” Sarah Jane informed the Doctor.

“Grandson?”  The Doctor frowned as he looked at the woman.  She looked like a fairer skinned version of Martha with Rory’s green eyes.  “What’s the date?”

“November 19, 2061.”

“Fifty years,” The Doctor closed his eyes as he exhaled.  “That would mean your parents are…”

“Mum is in her eighties,” Sarah Jane informed him.  “And dad…”  She paused.  “He lived a nice long life,” she added sadly.

The Doctor’s face fell.  Rory was dead, but she didn’t talk about Martha in the past tense.  So she had to still be alive.  He wasn’t too late.  “Is she here?” he asked.  “Is Martha here?”

Sarah Jane nodded.  “She’s in the lounge.”  She picked Rory up and led the Doctor towards the lounge.  “I think she’s been waiting for you,” she told him.  “Ever since dad died, she’s seemed like she’s been waiting for someone.”

“She told me to come back for her,” the Doctor replied.  “I left her back in December 2011.  That was a fortnight ago.  Then the TARDIS materialise here.”

“Fifty years in a fortnight,” Sarah Jane marvelled.  “Mum said time travel was mind blowing, but I can’t even wrap my head around that one.”  She chuckled softly as they entered the lounge.  “Mum,” she called out to her softly as not to startle her.  “There’s someone here to see you.”

The Doctor walked around the chair Martha was sitting in.  It stunned him seeing her that way.  So tiny and weak.  “Martha,” he spoke softly but she didn’t stir.

“Mum?”  Sarah Jane set Rory on the ground.  She looked at the woman closely.  She was perfectly still.  “Mum?” she repeated as she knelt next to the chair and took her mother’s hand into her own.  “Mummy?”

The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and scanned Martha.  “I’m sorry, Sarah Jane,” his voice cracked behind her.  “I’m so sorry.”

“No,” Sarah Jane shook her head as she stood up.  “She wouldn’t want us to be sad.”  She choked back the tears.  “She used to tell me and my siblings that time was a gift.  ‘The greatest gift’ and we shouldn’t waste a second of it.”

“Sarah Jane—”

“There’s something I need to show you,” Sarah Jane replied before the Doctor could finish.  She led the way back to Martha’s room.  “Ever since I can remember, mum has been keeping these journals.”  She opened the closet and dragged out an old suitcase.  She threw the case on the bed and opened it.  Inside there were several diaries of varying colours and sizes. “They’re all here,” she informed him.  “Fifty years of my mum’s life.”  She turned to the Doctor.  “I want you to take them.”

The Doctor shook his head.  “I couldn’t.”

“It’s what she would have wanted,” Sarah Jane insisted.  “Please.”  She closed the case and handed it to him.

The Doctor took the case reluctantly and turned towards the TARDIS.

“Doctor…”  Sarah Jane reached out to him.  He turned at the sound of her voice.  “I’ve been hearing stories about you and your TARDIS since I was a little girl.  Can I…” she hesitated.  The Doctor pushed the doors to the TARDIS open and allowed Sarah Jane inside.  Once Sarah Jane stepped over the threshold, she felt the tears well up in her eyes again, but this time they were tears of joy.  “It’s more beautiful than she described.”

“You could come with me, you know.”  The Doctor said suddenly.  “See the stars like your mum.”

Sarah Jane shook her head.  “It’s too late for me, but it’s alright.”  She smiled.  “I’ve had plenty of adventures of my own.  It’s all in there.”  She gestured towards the case as she exited the TARDIS.  “And Doctor…”  She turned in the doorway.  “Thank you.”

“For what?”  The Doctor asked.

“Mum said you’ve saved so many lives and you never asked to be thanked,” Sarah Jane retorted.  “So I just wanted to say it.”  She shrugged slightly.  “Thank you, Doctor.  For everything.”  She gave him a smile that reminded him of Martha and walked away.


	20. Chapter 20

The Doctor kept his emotions in check long enough for Sarah Jane to leave and for the TARDIS to dematerialise.  He sunk to the ground next to the console and sobbed softly.

He had done it again.  He let Martha down.

The Doctor pulled the old case towards him and opened it.  He pulled out a stack of diaries and began to read.

 

December 25, 2012

It’s been year since we last met, Doctor.  So much has happened since then.  Brian walked for the first time without tumbling over.  Rory cried.  It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen and that’s saying a lot given my time with you.  I think sometimes we forget how important the little things in life can be.  I don’t want to forget anything, so I’ve decided to write it all down.

 

March 9, 2013

Rory and I are settling into life in Chiswick.  You’ll never believe who I saw in the park.  Of course, Donna didn’t know me, but she is the same as I remember.  And she’s a mum now!  Her son is called Geoffrey after her dad.  I think he and Brian are becoming fast friends.

 

July 14, 2014

Rory and I had the craziest idea today.  We want to open our own clinic.  We’re not even sure where the idea came from.  We both just took the idea and ran.  I think it could be good though.  We’ll be able to make our own hours and no more A&E craziness.

 

November 28, 2014

I still can’t believe I’m pregnant again.  Mum and dad are thrilled.  Rory’s over the moon.  He’s such a great dad.  I think I fall a little more in love with him each time I see him with Brian.

 

August 17, 2015

Martha is still recovering from the twins’ birth so I’m updating her journal for her.  There’s something about seeing a new life come into the world.  I’ve delivered babies before, but being a dad watching your own child being born is…  Words can’t even describe it.  Francine and Sarah are so tiny, but I can’t help thinking of all of the possibilities.

 

April 22, 2017

We saw Amy today.  We went down to Leadworth to visit Rory’s dad and there she was.  It was awkward for her and Rory at first, but I think, well I hope, that they can be friends again.

 

September 30, 2020

I guess the third time really is the charm.  Jackson’s birth was by far the easiest.  I was afraid that something would go wrong given my age, but he’s absolutely perfect.

 

June 25, 2021

 10 years as husband and wife.  Seems like just yesterday that Rory and I first met.  Rory wants to take me on a proper honeymoon since we never had one the first time around.  Amy says Tuscany is beautiful this time of year, but I think we’ll put the honeymoon off until Jackson is a little older.

 

November 16, 2025

Sarah Jane just discovered A Journal of Impossible Things and she says that she’s in love with John Smith.  Like mother, like daughter I suppose.  She says she wants to see the stars and meet people from different worlds.  Should I tell her that it’s more wonderful than she could ever imagine?

 

The Doctor smiled as he set the first stack of journals down and gathered more.  So many wonderful things had happened, but he wanted to know more.  He wanted to know everything.

 

October 23, 2035 

Brian passed his boards!  He was so nervous about the results, but Rory and I never had a doubt in our minds.  Brian has always been clever.  He was at the top of his class at Cambridge after all.  Another doctor in the family.  Rory reckons Brian will take over the clinic after we retire.

 

February 9, 2036

It’s official.  Donna and I are related.  Cici married Geoffrey today.  She looked so beautiful in her dress.  Rory couldn’t hold back the tears.  Neither could I if I’m honest.  They grow up so fast.  Next thing you know, they’ll be having children of their own.  Can you imagine  Rory and me as grandparents?  The idea is becoming realer every day.

 

October 24, 2037

Sarah Jane called me from Cardiff today.  She’s pregnant.  Rory didn’t take the news well.  When we sent her off to work for Torchwood, we made Jack promise to protect her.  Aliens crossed our minds, but for some reason a sweet talking bloke from Swansea never registered as a threat.  She’s not worried though.  She’s determined to do it all on her own.  She always was the strong one.

 

The Doctor smiled wider.  So that was what Sarah Jane meant by adventures of her own.  Motherhood and a career with Torchwood.  It seemed that she shared more in common with Martha than just her looks.  The desire to take her for a trip inside his TARDIS grew, but for now he’d keep reading.

 

March 5, 2043

Jackson published his first book.  It’s called The Raggedy Doctor.  Amy came up with the title.  She was the inspiration after all.  I guess we shouldn’t be surprised.  He always loved listening to stories, especially the ones about you.  He’s already planning the next one.  He says it’ll be about Sarah Jane’s adventures working for Torchwood.  Jack hopes to feature prominently, but Jackson refused to make his godfather any promises.

 

“Captain Jack!”  The Doctor laughed to himself.  “The same as always.”

 

August 27, 2054

I quite like retirement.  So much time, yet so little to do.  The clinic is in great hands.  Brian and Tasmin are quite the team.  She’s so much like Nicola, but there’s a lot of Tom in her as well.  Rory and I travel mostly these days.  It was India last month.  Next, we’re thinking of volunteering at an orphanage in Kenya.  You know Rory.  Even after retiring, he can’t fight the urge to help those in need.  It’s one of the things I love the most about him.

 

July 19, 2058

I wasn’t prepared for this.  I’ve dealt with death so many times in my life this one is different.  This one might actually kill me.  No one wants to have to bury their own child.  Carys was so young and now she’s gone.  Killed by a drink driver on her twenty-first.  Sarah Jane is putting on a brave face, but I know she’s dying on the inside.  Cici tried to convince her to go stay with her and Geoffrey in America, but she says that little Rory needs stability more than anything now that he’s lost both his mum and his dad.  I know we can survive this, but everything just seems so bleak right now.

 

December 25, 2060

Christmas was better this year than the last few.  Four generations of Williams all gathered together again.  It was everything Rory and I have always dreamed of.  I always think of you at Christmastime.  Ever since the last time we met.  I wish I could see you again, but I’m not ready for that day to come, because that’ll be the day that I’ll have to say goodbye.  I hate goodbyes.

 

June 26, 2061

Yesterday was our fifth anniversary.  Rory was right.  Time really does fly when you’re with the one you love.  He was so happy.  He kept smiling despite the pain.  Now I know he did for me.  He held on for me.  I knew this day was coming since his diagnosis, but I guess I’m too selfish to let go.  I don’t want to live in a world without him.

 

July 12, 2061

Where are you Doctor?  Why aren’t you here?  I need you.  I need you to take me away from this.  I can’t do it anymore.  Please Doctor.  Please come back for me.  Please.

 

August 2, 2061

I hate this.  I hate being alone.  I hate that Sarah Jane is constantly trying to coddle me.  I hate that you haven’t kept your promise.  I hate you.  Why aren’t you here when I need you the most?  I hate you for making me wait.  But mostly, I hate Rory.  I hate him for dying and leaving me behind.  He promised me forever, but I don’t want forever if I can’t have it with him.

 

The Doctor turned the pages in the last book, but the rest of them were blank.  His heart ached.  Martha was angry with him and she had every right to be.  He had broken his promise.  It wasn’t intentional on his part, but a broken promise was still a broken promise and now he had no way to make it up to her.

He flung the final journal onto the stacks of books casing them all the scatter across the console floor.  Amidst the strewn books he noticed something, a blue envelope.  He ripped into it eagerly and pulled out a letter dated November 19, 2061.

 

Dear Doctor,

I haven’t written in three months.  Maybe because I was hoping you would have come for me by now.  Or maybe I was afraid I’d write something as mean as I did the last time.  Either way this will be the last time I write to you, Doctor.  It’s time for me to say what I’ve needed to say for fifty years.

This timeline, for all the joys it has brought me, is wrong.  Rory and I were never meant to get married.  We weren’t even supposed to meet.  Amy is his real destiny.  We both knew the truth for a long time, but we couldn’t let go of each other.  I couldn’t let go.

I realise it was a selfish thing to do, but it’s so rare that I truly put myself first.  These last fifty years have been filled with love and joy and pain and sorrow.  The only thing I regret is that I won’t remember one bit of it.

The time has come Doctor.  Time for you to set things right.  Time for you to give Amy and Rory, and me, the lives we were meant to lead.

To do that you must go back.  Back to Amy.  You returned to her too soon after your battle with the Atraxi.  So after you read this, I want you to go to her.  Go back to June 25, 2010 and set things right.

I just have one more favour to ask.  Make sure they’re happy.  I can let go of memories of this life as long as I know that Rory will be happy.  Even when things get rough, remind them of their love.  Remind them of how rare it is to find someone that you’re willing to sacrifice everything for.  And remind them of how precious time can be.  They’re all we have in the end.  Time and love.  So we have to use both wisely.

 

The Doctor tucked Martha’s letter into his pocket and stood up.  He smiled as he flicked switches and turned knobs on the console.  “Okay, old girl.  It’s time to make things right,” he told the TARDIS.  “It’s time to keep our promise to Martha.”


	21. Epilogue

Martha woke with a start.  She had that strange dream again, the one with the nurse named Rory.  It was weird how real it felt, but it was just a dream.

Wasn’t it?

She sighed softly and closed her eyes.  Why was it that you could never re-join a dream where you left off?

Her mobile rang on the nightstand next to her bed.  She felt for it blindly and answered.  “Hello?”

“Hiya Martha!”  The voice of her best friend Nicola was on the other end.  “Shit.  I didn’t wake you, did I?”  She groaned softly.  “I never could get the hang of that whole time difference thing.”

“It’s a six hour difference between England and Illinois,” Martha replied as she pulled herself from bed.  “But you didn’t wake me.  I was getting up anyway.  I’m due at work tonight.”

“Our little Martha Jones, a big fancy doctor in America,” Nicola retorted.  “How is it there?”

“Chicago or the hospital?”

“BOTH!”

“Chicago is great.  It’s big, but it doesn’t feel as busy as London.  Cost of living is definitely lower,” Martha commented.  “Loyola is great too.  The level of care in America is brilliant, but I still feel a bit like a fish out of water, you know?”

“You’ll get the hang of it,” Nicola insisted.  “Maybe even meet a nice bloke.  Your very own McSteamy or better yet, Clooney.”

Martha laughed.  “Contrary to what American television would have you believe, I have yet to meet any doctors that even remotely resembled Eric Dane or George Clooney.  Besides...” Thoughts of her dream nurse popped into her head.  “Maybe what I need is someone who isn’t a doctor.”

“Does that mean I can give Tom a ring?” Nicola joked.

“Actually, the two of you might be good for each other.”

Nicola laughed.  “Really?”

“Yea, just name the first one after me.”

“Done!” Nicola laughed harder.  “I gotta let you go.  My break is nearly over and Oliver’s been on a power trip lately.  Talk to you soon love!”

“Bye Nicola.”

Martha tossed her phone on the bed and began to get ready for work.  If she hurried, she’d have enough time to stop at her favourite diner before her shift began.

 

~*~

 

Martha smiled as she walked inside the diner.  It brought back memories of a chip shop she used to go to back in London.  It was funny how the little things always reminded her of home.

“Martha!” the waitress behind the counter beamed when she saw her.  “The usual?”

“Yea.”  Martha nodded as she headed for her regular seat in the corner of the diner.  “Thanks Linda.”

As she passed the counter, Martha was certain that she caught the bloke eating pie checking out her bum.  American men seemed to be more blatant about those sorts of things, but at least he was attractive.  That was more than she could say for some of the elderly arse pinchers she came across at work.

After a few minutes, Linda delivered a cheeseburger and a plate of chips along with a large coffee to Martha’s table.  It wasn’t the healthiest dinner, but the combination of caffeine, protein and carbohydrates would get her through the late shift in the trauma centre.

“Is this seat taken?” a male voice asked from above.

Martha looked up, half expecting to see the cute bloke from the counter.  Instead, she found herself staring into the grey-green eyes of a man she had only seen in her dreams.  She dropped her burger.  “Doctor?”

“Hello, Martha.”  The Doctor smiled as he took a seat across from her.

Once the initial shock wore off, the reality set in.  “So it was all real?” she asked.

The Doctor nodded as he helped himself to her chips.  “Latent memories of an aborted timeline.”

“Does he remember me?”  Martha asked before she could stop herself.

The Doctor averted his eyes and that was the only answer she needed.

“It’s for the best,” she replied for her own benefit.  “He has Amy back and it’s June, so they’ll be getting married soon.”

The Doctor forced a smile, but there was sadness in his eyes.  Martha stared at him closely and realised that he was older than the version she remembered.  Much older.

“Why do I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me?”

“I kept my promise,” the Doctor told her simply.  “They lived well and they were very happy.”

Martha nodded slowly.  A strange sensation churned inside of her and she decided not to press him for details.  “River was right.  It is bizarre having more than one timeline in your head at once.”

The Doctor shrugged.  “Just a regular day for me.”

Martha smirked.  “She said you’d say that.”

“You could come with me, you know.”  The Doctor suggested.  “Give me another chance to right some more wrongs,” he added hopefully.

“I think you’ve more than made it up to me, Doctor,” Martha insisted.  “Besides, I’m gonna try being average for a bit.”

“Oh, Martha.  You could never be average.”

“But I can be happy,” Martha retorted.  “River told me my future.”

The Doctor frowned.  “She did  _what_ ?”

Martha waved off his frustration.  “No major details.  Just that I was going to meet an American in a hospital and that we’d fall in love.”

“She should  _not_ have told you that.”  The Doctor fidgeted with his bowtie.  “I swear, when I get my hands on that woman.”

Martha leaned in close to him.  “Do you know something?”

“Spoilers,” he replied defiantly.

“Just give me a hint,” Martha begged playfully.  “Anything!”

The Doctor exhaled as he stood up.  “Foreknowledge is—”

“A dangerous thing,” Martha completed his sentence with a roll of her eyes.  “I know.”

“Good.”  The Doctor nodded resolutely as he straightened his bowtie.

“Will I see you again?” Martha asked.

“I might pop in from time to time.”

Martha smiled.  “Answer your phone if give you a ring.”

“I’ll answer,” the Doctor promised.  “And Martha.”  He reached in his pocket and tossed something to her.

Martha turned the object over in her hands.  “Psychic paper?”

The Doctor nodded his head towards the guy at the counter and winked before leaving the diner.

Martha opened the flap on the psychic paper and smiled as she read it to herself.  ‘His name is Dean Winchester.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue leads into a second story, which isn't technically a sequel. It's more like second in-universe story. At any rate, I think you can guess from that last line that the next one will be a SuperWho crossover. As clue, I'll just say that River's line about Martha falling for an American wasn't just a throwaway!


End file.
